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A teenage boy died after his long battle with obesity.
The 13-year-old boy, identified only as child F1, was fed junk food by his mom, who has been accused of emotional abuse, while on his deathbed in 2015, Metro reports.
The shocking event came to light after a case review investigated the “sunny and friendly” youngster’s death.
According to a recent probe, the Manchester police are guilty of “professional paralysis” after failing to see childhood obesity as a sign of abuse and neglect, The Sun reports.
F1 reportedly enjoyed PE class and told his teachers not to inform his mom that he was doing physical activities.
The school advised the mother to let the youngster walk to school with friends, but she refused to give permission.
“They mapped out a route to school so F1 could meet friends along the way and avoid reported bullying,” the report stated.
“The mother was unhappy with school’s interference and undermined their approach by continuing to bring F1 to school by car.
“The mother continued to blame F1 for not losing weight, saying he was lazy.”
The investigation also revealed that the mom, who’d feed the child 2 000 calories before lunch, also brought takeaways to the hospital for him before he passed away, Manchester Evening News reveals.
The report further stated that the mother failed to take F1 to doctors’ appointments even though the child, who weighed 30kg by the age of three, had frequent anxiety about his health.
“Had F1 attended it would’ve been an opportunity to explore in depth with him what was really happening in his life and how it could be improved. The child had gained 18kg over the previous nine months,” the report revealed.
“The situation for F1 was clearly getting more serious and this should’ve prompted a clear plan of action and a mechanism for assessment of what the nature of the problem was and what could be done to address it.”
The teen died in hospital shortly after doctors discovered that he had dilated cardiomyopathy – a blood clot resulting from his obesity.
“F1 was assessed as not fit enough for a transplant because of his obesity and deteriorating heart condition. He returned to the hospital where it was clear that he was terminally ill and had a short time to live,” the report said.
Following F1’s death, police officers have been encouraged to have difficult conversations about obesity.
“Although all professionals in contact with F1 were aware of his morbid obesity, there was never a clear plan of action, neither an early-help response or an analysis of whether this was a safeguarding concern,” the report stated.
The report set out a list of recommendations for agencies in order to prevent something similar from happening again.
Sources: Metro News, The Sun, Manchester Evening News
