200-pound 3rd-grader taken from mom, put in foster care

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Updated: December 30, 2011 8:18AM

CLEVELAND — An Ohio third-grader who weighs more than 200 pounds has been taken from his family and placed into foster care after county social workers said his mother wasn’t doing enough to control his weight.

The Cleveland 8-year-old is considered severely obese and at risk for such diseases as diabetes and hypertension.

“They are trying to make it seem like I am unfit, like I don’t love my child,” the boy’s mother said. “Of course I love him. Of course I want him to lose weight. It is very hard, but I am trying.”

Records show the child’s only current medical problem, sleep apnea, is being treated and that he wears a machine nightly that helps and monitors his breathing.

A spokeswoman says the county removed the child because caseworkers saw his mother’s inability to reduce his weight as medical neglect. The boy is currently living in a foster home. AP