The Obesity police are here! Man locked up for being Overweight

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

Ordeal ... Chris was dragged
off in tears by authorities






By JACQUI THORNTON
Health Editor

SOBBING 31-stone Chris Leppard was dragged off to a mental hospital
against his will by meddling social workers and police.

Chris, 23, has been forcibly detained for a month because he cannot
stop eating.

The authorities used powers normally used to detain mentally ill
people who might harm themselves or others.

They locked him up despite the fact neither he nor his family wanted
him to go. Last night Chris’s furious mother Anne said he has no mental
problems and was winning his fight against the rare illness that compels him
to eat.



TV report ... Chris on documentary last month



Chris’s case was condemned by opponents of a nanny state. They asked
whether others with life-threatening addictions could be next.

Mum Anne, 49, told of the agonising moment the ambulance came to take
Chris — without warning.

She said: “Four people turned up and after some questions, said they
were taking him away. Chris was really upset, crying, saying he didn’t want
to go and that he wasn’t mental.

“We didn’t know they were coming to take him. He is being punished for
being ill. He has a physical problem. He was working well towards losing
weight.



Support ... with mum Anne



“He asked social services to give him six months to prove he could
lose weight. They didn't give him six days. I had stopped giving him money
for food. For the first time in years we were getting somewhere. We had
locked food cupboards, that was a big step.�

Chris, of Hastings, East Sussex, suffers from an incurable condition
called Prader-Willi Syndrome. It means he can’t tell when his stomach is
full and could eat so much that it will kill him.

East Sussex social services intervened after Chris appeared in a BBC1
documentary last month.

Anne said she asked for the six months grace to prove he could lose
weight. He was already on a diet and exercising.

But the authorities shipped him off to a specialist eating disorder
unit at the Eastbourne Clinic where he will be assessed for up to 28 days.

Shadow Health Minister Tim Loughton was outraged. He said: “It’s a
taste of things to come if the Government’s draft Mental Health Act becomes
law. It will subject people who are not strictly suffering from mental
illness, to sectioning.�

Angry Libertarian Alliance spokesman Dr Sean Gabb said: “What on earth
justifies the intervention of the police and compels him to have medical
treatment?�

East Sussex County Council said “all proper procedures have been
followed� — and such orders were “in the interests of that person’s health
or safety or to protect other people�.
[Milo]



This article comes just on the heels of this week's earlier post: "
Too Fat? It's off to the Insane Asylum You Go."

Although the incident above happened in the UK, there are widespread
instances of similar police state tactics being used against the obese here
in the US.

And it always come back to this: the State "needs" more control.
Loving Big Brother needs extra powers to control your weight, your health,
your thoughts...

State unveils plan to tackle obesity
Idea lacks funding or mandates so far

The Arizona Republic | February 25, 2005
By Janie Magruder

Arizona is flunking efforts to reduce obesity in its residents, but
officials hope a plan released Thursday will help the state get in shape.

The Arizona Nutrition and Physical Activity State Plan offers
recommendations, but no mandates or funding, unlike those in other states
that require schools to send obesity-risk information home on student report
cards or pay state workers to become healthier.

The Arizona plan offers ideas such as changing building codes to
promote healthy community designs, building lactation rooms in businesses
and teaching parents how to feed their children and get them moving.

It's a good start, said Matthew Mayer of Chandler, who at 396 pounds
is morbidly obese. Mayer applauded recommendations to improve nutrition in
schools and better educate health care professionals on obesity-prevention
steps.

But it may be too little, he said, given the scope of Arizona's
obesity problem.

"It's the equivalent of putting out a forest fire with a garden hose,"
said Mayer, 33.

Mayer, who faces gastric-bypass surgery in June, is trying to instill
healthy eating and exercise habits in his 4-year-old son.

Officials released the state plan Thursday during a daylong conference
on obesity organized by the state Department of Health Services. The plan
comes a year after Gov. Janet Napolitano directed the agency to do something
about the rising obesity epidemic.

Now, it's up to the 280{check} conference participants - from parents
and physicians to employers and educators - to share the report with their
bosses, patients and co-workers and to implement suggestions in "small
steps."

"I don't think anyone in this room thinks we've come up with all the
answers or that we can solve this in the short term," said Renae Cunnien,
manager of the state health department's obesity prevention program. "But
they know that it better start with us, and it better start now."

Nearly six in 10 adults in Arizona are overweight or obese, placing
them at risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke, cancer and early death. In
August, 23 states, including Arizona, received "Fs" in the nation's first
report card on obesity, issued by the University of Baltimore, for failing
to require physical education, improve school nutrition or eliminate junk
food on campus.

Steps to change that are under way.

Bills that would ban the sale of soda and candy during school hours
and explore requiring PE in schools, currently a decision that's left up to
local districts, are being debated in the state Legislature.

Linda Adamski, who taught school in Nebraska for nearly 20 years
before moving to Arizona several years ago, is shocked that PE is optional.

Adamski, a PE teacher at Bogle Junior High in Chandler, said the daily
class, now required of all seventh-graders, will become optional and less
often next year, to make time for more math in the school day.

"I understand why they are going in that direction, the emphasis the
state places on math scores," she said. "But I'm very concerned about the
lack of physical activity for kids."

The plan has other suggestions that were implemented years ago in the
private sector.

Marley Park, a 956-acre subdivision set to open in Surprise this fall,
is being built as a "walkable community," with a wide sidewalk beneath a
major road for safety. It offers pedestrian access from homes to nearby
retail, enabling residents to avoid busy streets.

The development by Scottsdale's DMB Associates Inc. also will offer
healthy cooking demonstrations and talks with nutritionists in its community
center and will set up groups of residents to walk neighborhood children to
and from the local school.

"It's important to allow people to be easily healthy," said Paula
Randolph, Marley Park's director of community operations.

Convenience is a factor for Shawnte Johnson, a 27-year-old Phoenix
mother who works full time and faces a long commute every day. When
something has to give in her schedule, it's always exercise.

"I enjoy working out, I don't have the problem of it being punishment
and pain," said Johnson, who attended Thursday's kickoff of the plan. "I
guess I need to get up earlier."

Martha Hiett, a senior policy adviser at the health department in
Arkansas, the one state earning a "B" on the obesity report card, said such
plans don't work without the cooperation of all parties. Arizona's plan is
"a good place to start," Hiett said, but it needs a catalyst.

"Recommendations are always good, and I'm sure it will go a long way
in raising awareness and getting some buy-in," Hiett said. "But one of the
things that made it work here is we have the Department of Health,
Department of Human Services and Department of Education all charged with
bringing this about. Who's going to make it happen (in Arizona)?"

It may come down to financial considerations, said William Dietz of
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "It will break the bank,
literally," said Dietz, who heads the CDC's Chronic Disease Prevention and
Nutrition Services Division.

The United States spent nearly $93 billion in 2002 treating
obesity-related diseases, according to Health Affairs , a Maryland-based
health policy and research journal.

"But we do have a unique opportunity in our lifetime to invest in
prevention of obesity," Dietz said at Thursday's conference. Julie Crichton,
a Scottsdale anesthesiologist who also attended the conference, worries that
obesity education and prevention doesn't start early enough. Crichton, the
mother of two young children, said preschools should be teaching about
nutrition, and public health advocates should be as concerned about
informing parents about nutrition as they are about pool fences and car
seats.

"It's so much easier and more successful to begin with healthy
behaviors," she said.

[britbunny]

Chris Leppard came out of the clinic after a day of assessment and of course he's going to sue.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

I would sue too. Sometimes the government sticks it's nose where it does not belong. And what really irritates me, is the fact that our government allows the very poisons in our food that cause obesity I understand he has a disease, but if our nations junk foods were not available, people in Chris's shoes would have no choice but to eat all natural and greatly reduce the chances of becoming obese. Once upon a time, our nation was a picture of health.

[Lori Biever-Launder]

Oh boy, this makes me MAD. We can't even stem the tide on illegal drugs, so let's get the legal system to keep people from eating??? I would sue too.

[COUNTRYBUMPKIN]

Lori, Our very own government is one of the biggest culprits of illegal drugs, believe it or not! I just happened to attend the same school and church as one one of the CIA"S MK Ultra Monarch's Mind Control Victim's, Cathy O'Brien. I have her book as well, Trance Formation Of America. Her website is www.trance-formation.org There is no end to the filth in our government

[homesteadmamma]

Its so easy to blame others when were overweight. We need to take responsibility for our own actions rather than always blaming government, etc. etc. We can walk past the junk food just as well as the slim person. We can stop eating at McDonalds or fast food joints just as well as the other person. Its so easy to put something into our mouths that isn't good for us and then blame others because we have.

Its about time we take responsibilities for being overweight and do something about it.

In regards to this article, Chris has an illness that needs to be closely monitored. For him to continue eating would eventually kill him. I'm not sure what the answer is, but its not the government's fault he has the illness. I agonize with the mom but this should have been dealt with long before age 23.

[Darlene]

Originally posted by homesteadmamma
Its so easy to blame others when were overweight. We need to take responsibility for our own actions rather than always blaming government, etc. etc. We can walk past the junk food just as well as the slim person. We can stop eating at McDonalds or fast food joints just as well as the other person. Its so easy to put something into our mouths that isn't good for us and then blame others because we have.

Its about time we take responsibilities for being overweight and do something about it.

In regards to this article, Chris has an illness that needs to be closely monitored. For him to continue eating would eventually kill him. I'm not sure what the answer is, but its not the government's fault he has the illness. I agonize with the mom but this should have been dealt with long before age 23.

Well said CJ.

The government isn't always the cause or the answer to our problems.

[kestrel91316]

Let's not all be so quick to blame "our government". If you read the article you will note the reference to East Sussex, which is in, ahem, ENGLAND. Last I heard, we declared our independence from them over 200 years ago in a rather messy affair.

[homesteadmamma]

Originally posted by kestrel91316
Let's not all be so quick to blame "our government". If you read the article you will note the reference to East Sussex, which is in, ahem, ENGLAND. Last I heard, we declared our independence from them over 200 years ago in a rather messy affair.

I hadn't even noticed that but you are right. Thanks for pointing that out.