Boy taken into care for being 2 pounds too light
A LITTLE boy with fussy eating habits is home safe at last after months spent in care – because his parents refused to make him eat junk food.
Health officials raised concerns after discovering two-year-old Zak Hessey weighed just 17.3lb – more than two pound below the average for his age.
Despite his parents’ protests, medical experts insisted he was given hospital treatment and social workers then made him the subject of a voluntary care order.
His furious parents claim that during his four months in care Zak was turned into a junk food addict. His foster parents followed doctors’ advice to pump him full of crisps, chocolate and cakes instead of the fresh fruit and vegetables his mother Lisa, 28, gave him.
But even after the drastic diet change his weight rose only to 18lbs. Social workers at first refused to hand Zak back to his parents, claiming he had been neglected.
But, after a legal battle, they conceded they had been wrong about the reasons for Zak’s weight loss and gave Lisa and her husband Paul, 48, a “glowing report” for their parenting skills.
The couple took their son to Chesterfield Royal Hospital in Derbyshire in July to see a consultant paediatrician after he began refusing food. They were told to feed Zak crisps, biscuits and chocolate bars.
But when the couple objected they were accused of being “negative”. They agreed to allow him to be admitted to hospital for a two-week assessment – and it was then decided to place him into foster care.
Four months later social workers admitted their error in court and agreed that Lisa and Paul were devoted and loving parents. Zak is now home and putting on weight but Lisa and Paul, from Bolsover, near Chesterfield, say social services officials devastated their family.
The mother of five said: “I thought I was doing the right thing by going to the best people for help and advice. Instead they accused me of neglecting him and implied it was all my fault. I have four other children and they are perfectly healthy. It was just that Zak was refusing food for some reason.
“The Government and doctors are always drumming into parents the importance of healthy eating and how junk food is bad for children – yet they were telling us to feed Zak all the wrong things.”
Derbyshire County Council said: “We always consult with our professional partners before we act and take a child into our care only with the consent of parents or following very careful consideration by a court.”
