Social workers are weighing in and taking away children from parents who give in to their cravings and feed them too much



Super-size youngsters taken away by social workers after being overfed

One child had a BMI of 35 - the equivalent of a six-foot man weighing 19st

Comes as an increasing number of parents give in to children's cravings



Action: Obese children have been taken away by social workers after being overfed by their families, a survey has revealed

Obese children have been taken away by social workers after being overfed by their families, it has been revealed.



The super-size youngsters were placed in care across the UK amid fears their weight was wrecking their health.



One child had a Body Mass Index (BMI) measurement of 35 - the equivalent of a six-foot man weighing 19st.



It comes as an increasing number of parents give in to their children's cravings for unhealthy food - a phenomenon known as 'killing with kindness'



In the past year alone, five British children have been taken from their families because of overfeeding, according to a survey by the Sunday Express.



These include two in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, one in Oxfordshire, one in Salford, and one in Hounslow, London.

And the year before, five other obese youngsters were placed in care in Sheffield, Portsmouth, Lincolnshire, Slough and Harrow, London.

Professionals say families' gross over-eating can be one of the factors that leads to their children being taken into care.



A social worker told the Sunday Express: 'Only in extreme cases would we take a child into care just because of their weight as we would seek to work with the family to improve their eating habits.'

Britain's child obesity epidemic - which has seen hospitals deal with nearly 1,000 children in the past three years - is now thought to cost the NHS around £4.2billion every year, according to estimates put forward by the Royal College of Paediatrics.

Warning: In 2006, ex-Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson (left) warned that health chiefs would consider removing children from their families if they became super-sized, risking their health



Alarmingly, children as young as ten months old have been admitted to hospital because they are dangerously overweight, according to figures released in October.

Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust revealed that during the past year, doctors have found themselves having to treat a ten-month-old baby for obesity – with a one year old also being referred to Mid Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust as a result of her weight.

And a staggering 45 youngsters aged 17 or under have had fat-fighting operations on the NHS in the past five years, according to Conservative MP Priti Patel.

'Only in extreme cases would we take a child into care just because of their weight'

- Social worker

However the true scale of the problem is likely to be much higher, as less than a third of hospital trusts have released information about the number of young children whose weight has spiralled out of control.

As well as being overfed, many overweight youngsters have also been fed a high-fat, sugary diet.



In 2006, ex-Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson warned that health chiefs would consider removing children from their families if they became super-sized, therefore risking their health.



The first reported case was an eight-year-old girl in Cumbria, who became so obese that she was forced to wear size 16 clothes.

She was taken into care in 2007 weighing a staggering 10st.



A Department of Health spokesman said England has one of the highest rates of obesity in the western world, but health professionals and voluntary groups are working together to help individuals 'improve their diet and lifestyles'.

