Obese 12-year-old girl taken from her mother's care because of 'dangerously high' BMI
Court proceedings brought by social services
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Your support makes all the difference.An obese 12-year-old girl has been taken from her mother after doctors said her body mass index (BMI) was at a "dangerously high level".
Court proceedings were brought by social services who feared for the child's health.
The 12-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, has been placed in foster care for the duration of a family court hearing.
BMI is value derived from the weight and height of a person and is used as a measure of relative fat content.
Leicester-based Judge Clifford Bellamy, who is leading the court case, told the BBC medical experts would give evidence on the 12-year-old's health, before a decision about where she should live is made.
A doctor had examined the girl a few months ago and said her BMI was at a "dangerously high level", Judge Bellamy said.
BMI has been criticised for being unreliable, since it does not take into account the distribution of fat — which can be an important indicator of someone's health. Abdominal fat, for example, is linked to cardiovascular disease and Type-2 diabetes.
Since it ignores fat distribution, some experts have said the use of BMI is leading to an underestimate of the scale of childhood obesity.
More than one in five children are overweight or obese when they begin primary school, rising to one in three by the time they finish, according ot the Health and Social Care Information Centre.
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