# Ohio puts 200-pound third-grader in foster care **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 28, 2011, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308 "2011-11-28T03:02:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308/261 "2011-12-12T00:55:08Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > He’ll be hungry. Okay, but so what? One of the most startling things I’ve ever read written by someone who lost a lot of weight was that she eventually realized that normal weight people get hungry too, but they just accept it rather than do anything to avoid it. Being hungry is normal. We’re supposed to get hungry and learn to cope with it. It seems kinder to encourage him to learn that lesson now, while his body is more capable of bouncing back than hope he will when he’s my age and weight loss and habit changes are much harder. Or most the fact that a lot of people don’t eat when they’re hungry so much as when they’re bored. And some don’t realize the difference between eating until you’re full and eating until you’re _stuffed_. “Full” would be having your hunger sated and you get up from the table and you’re fine. “Stuffed” is when you groan and push your chair away from the table, your stomach hurts from everything you ate, and you end up feeling like crap. I’m guessing once he gets out of the habit of feeling “hungry” all the time, he’ll feel a lot better. Either that or fill up on veggies if he’s that hungry. ---
**Author:** ![Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brown_eyed_girl/32/3574_2.png) [@Brown\_Eyed\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brown_Eyed_Girl)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2011, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308/262 "2011-12-12T01:41:10Z")
> [@OpalCat](#): > > Well, the surgery I had (duodenal switch) is pretty hard to cheat with, but it’s also not really reversable and I don’t think anyone would do it on an 8 year old (or should). At 8 though, his parents should be able to limit his ability to cheat by, say, getting milkshakes. I mean what 8 year old has his own access to milkshakes? I just think that if he weighed closer to what he should way, it might be easier to maintain that than working off all the weight first, and then maintaining. Like I said, just something I wondered about. I haven’t considered all sides of the issue and don’t know if it would be a good idea or not. That particular procedure comes with a higher risk of malnutrition due to its malabsorptive aspect, which I think is particularly risky in a child who already has a poor diet, nutritionally speaking. Particularly because the child’s body is still maturing and vitamin deficiency is potentially very dangerous. Additionally, surgery doesn’t teach the child sensible eating habits which is particularly necessary when your body is not retrieving all the available nutrition out of the food you can intake. I would think a sensible physician would not qualify a patient for surgery who isn’t old enough to understand lifestyle changes required of the procedure and its very real health risks such as hernia, infection, bowel obstruction or perforation. ---
**Author:** ![Amasia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Amasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amasia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308/263 "2011-12-22T02:07:24Z")
As an update to this story, the boy has been removed from foster care and placed with his uncle. [http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/ohio\_boy\_who\_weighed\_200\_pounds\_to\_live\_with\_uncle/](http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/ohio_boy_who_weighed_200_pounds_to_live_with_uncle/) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2011, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308/264 "2011-12-22T22:43:02Z")
> [@Amasia](#): > > As an update to this story, the boy has been removed from foster care and placed with his uncle. [http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/ohio\_boy\_who\_weighed\_200\_pounds\_to\_live\_with\_uncle/](http://www.salon.com/2011/12/14/ohio_boy_who_weighed_200_pounds_to_live_with_uncle/) That’s good to hear. Hopefully he’ll continue losing weight and get back with his family. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ohio-puts-200-pound-third-grader-in-foster-care/604308.md?page=13)