Obese 9-year-old Loses 50lbs. to Return Home

Last year, a 9-year-old Cleveland Heights, OH, boy was taken from his mother and put in protective custody after his weight ballooned to almost 220 pounds. In a desperate move to save the child from potential complications, including diabetes and other harmful side effects of obesity, the boy was placed in the care of an uncle and has since shed 50 pounds in four months—enough to warrant a return home, reports MSNBC.

Plus: Good Parenting the Key to Healthy Kids

Compared to the normal 60 pounds a child his age should weigh, the Ohio boy was over three-and-a-half times his recommended size, according to government growth charts. A strict diet and exercise regimen has started him on the fast track to recovery.

While living with his uncle, the boy visited the gym three nights a week for the past four months, and upon his return home, the local YMCA gifted memberships to him and his mother. He has also been encouraged to continue swimming and playing basketball—other hobbies he has adopted since his time away.

Plus: Parenting’s Guide to Childhood Obesity

Although the boy was under protective supervision since returning to his mother in March, that mandate was recently lifted. Social service workers plan to check in on the boy regularly and have also offered him and his mother nutritional and health counseling.

Do you think this boy was physically and emotionally ready to return home, or should he have continued to stay with his uncle?