On Thursday, May 21st, authorities in Baltimore arrested Jerri Althea Gray and took her son, Alexander Deundray Draper, into protective custody. A warrant was issued for Mrs. Grays arrest in South Carloina on Tuesday after she failed to appear at a court ordered hearing. During that hearing the judge ordered that the boy should be taken into state custody due to medical neglect.

Alexander, you see, weighs 555 pounds.

There is almost a constant stream of news these days about America’s ever-expanding waist line and what our government is trying to do about it. From taxing sugary drinks to proposing a congressional task force on obesity it’s clear that our weight, and the costs associated with it, is very much on the minds of our elected officials. While I understand the motivation behind that, I am a big believer in personal freedom and strongly feel that if an individual does not have the motivation to live a healthy life that they should not be forced to do so by some kind of government sponsored Fat Police.

This case, however, doesn’t revolve around an adult who has made the conscious choice to remain unhealthy. It is about a child. A fourteen year old is not, according to the law, emotionally or intellectually mature enough to make decisions about their own health and well-being, and in a case such as this it is clearly unrealistic to believe that the child was purchasing and preparing his own food. The question that arises from this, then, is whether or not obesity to this extreme is medical neglect. The authorities in South Carolina believe that it is, as Alexander has been taken from his Mother and is being sent from Maryland to the South Carolina Department of Social Services.

As much as I’m averse to the thought of the authorities having a say in my decisions as a parent, I have to admit that in this case I believe they have it right. Barring any kind of major medical problem that could have caused this kind of weight gain it would have taken years for the boy in this case to his current weight of 555 pounds.  This is, in my opinion, a matter of gross neglect that might even cross into child abuse.

But where do you draw the line?  How big is too big?  Obviously 555 pounds falls into that category, but does 455?  355?  255?  When is it right for the government to step in and tell the parent they are doing it wrong, or is it ever?  Is allowing your child to become as large as this young man a personal freedom?