By A 9-year-old Ohio boy who once weighted more than 200 pounds and was removed from his mother's custody has been returned to her care.
The boy who had had slimmed down to 166 lbs., according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer, is now 173 pounds. The newspaper story reported the case drew national attention last fall when Cuyahoga County Children & Family Services removed the boy from his mother's care when caseworkers said she wasn't doing enough to control his weight, which was 218 pounds at the time.
He had lost the weight when living with an uncle in Columbus.
"It is the right thing to do at this time," Cuyahoga County Juvenile Court Judge David Stucki said in a Reuters story after making his ruling and closing the case. The best interest of the child has been protected and supported. The system worked."
The story also reported attorney James Hardiman, who represented the mother, told the judge that since returning to Cleveland the boy has received a free membership to a local YMCA, a Big Brother assignment through the Big Brothers, Big Sisters program and the county will pay for half of the cost of weekly cooking classes for his family.
"We are happy the county terminated protective services. We think the case was ill-advised," Hardiman told Reuters. "Our plan was to get him out of the system as soon as possible. This whole thing has been about his weight with no concern to his emotional state."
This was the first time an Ohio child was removed from a parent's custody mainly due to weight issues.
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