SarahNYTJ9
02-27-2007, 12:08 PM
Found this on another message board where I post I wish the people there could have a better understanding of the issues surrounding the causes of obesity. In many cases it is not simple "parental neglect," especially if the child has been overweight since he was an infant.
Obese Child: UK May Weigh Custudy (http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/27/obese.child.ap/)
LONDON, England (AP) -- British authorities may take an 8-year-old boy weighing 99 kilograms (218 pounds) into protective custody unless his mother improves his diet, officials said Monday.
Social service officials will meet with family members Tuesday to discuss the health of Connor McCreaddie, who weighs more than three times the average for his age.
"The worst case would be Connor getting taken into care. He is well cared for," the boy's mother, Nicola McKeown, told ITV television.
A spokeswoman for health officials in Wallsend, North Tyneside, 300 miles north of London, said the hearing was part of a process that could eventually lead to Connor being taken into protective care. She declined to comment further.
The health agencies organizing the meeting said they "have been working with the family over a prolonged period of time and will continue to do so."
Officials would not say whether Connor suffered from a medical condition that led to his obesity, citing privacy issues.
An unidentified health official was quoted as telling The Sunday Times that taking custody of Connor would be a last resort, but said the family had repeatedly failed to attend appointments with nurses, nutritionists and social workers.
"Child abuse is not just about hitting your children or sexually abusing them, it is also about neglect," the official was quoted as saying.
Dr. Colin Waine, the director of the National Obesity Forum in Nottingham, England, called Connor's lifestyle "extremely dangerous," adding he is at risk of developing diabetes in his early teens, and cardiovascular and nervous system problems in his 20s.
"He's really at risk of dying by the time he's 30," Waine said.
Dr. Michael Markiewicz, a pediatrician, agreed.
"I'm not saying they can't care for him, but what they are doing is through the way they are treating him and feeding him, they are slowly killing him," he said.
Connor's case attracted national attention after his mother allowed an ITV News crew to film his day-to-day life over the course of a month.
When the boy was 2 1/2 years old, he was too heavy for his mother to pick up and at 5, he weighed more than 126 pounds, said The Journal, a northern regional newspaper. Now Connor, who is tall for his age at 5 feet tall, wears adult clothes and size eight shoes, the newspaper said.
Connor's mother said he steals and hides food, frustrating her efforts to help him. He eats double or triple what a normal seven-year-old would have, she said.
"If I didn't give him enough at teatime then he would just go on at us all night for snacks and stuff," she told ITV.
Connor, who lives with his mother and sister, has difficulty dressing and washing himself, misses school regularly because of poor health, and is targeted by bullies.
"People pick on us because of my weight. They call us fat. It makes us feel sick of the nutters always shouting at us," Connor told ITV.
Edited to add an update
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British social workers have decided to allow an eight-year-old boy who weighs almost 200 pounds (91 kilograms) to remain at home with his mother, who has refused to stop feeding him junk food.
Connor McCreaddie's mother says her 14-stone (196-pound) son will not eat healthy food like fruits and vegetables and had rejected a suggestion that she put a lock on the fridge.
Social workers had considered taking the boy into care. His plight has prompted intense media interest in a country increasingly concerned about rising child obesity levels.
But after a meeting with Connor and his mother Nicola McKeown, 35, the local council in North Tyneside in northeastern England said he would remain at home.
"We have had a useful discussion today during which all agencies and the family confirmed that the priority in this matter is the eight-year-old boy," the council said in a statement Tuesday.
"The Local Safeguarding Children Board was able to confirm that its hope and ambition is to enable this child to remain with his family."
The council said it had made a formal agreement with the family "to safeguard and promote the child's welfare". It gave no further details.
Single mother McKeown, 35, who suffers from depression, had dismissed allegations she had been neglecting her son, who is four times the healthy weight of same-age children and was even heavier before Christmas.
Connor, from Wallsend, Newcastle, has lost one-and-a-half stone since the start of the year after his mother sought advice from health workers and a dietician.
With studies showing Britain has the worst rate of obesity among children in Europe, the country's media regulator plans to ban television advertising for junk food aimed at school-age children from next year.
Obese Child: UK May Weigh Custudy (http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/02/27/obese.child.ap/)
LONDON, England (AP) -- British authorities may take an 8-year-old boy weighing 99 kilograms (218 pounds) into protective custody unless his mother improves his diet, officials said Monday.
Social service officials will meet with family members Tuesday to discuss the health of Connor McCreaddie, who weighs more than three times the average for his age.
"The worst case would be Connor getting taken into care. He is well cared for," the boy's mother, Nicola McKeown, told ITV television.
A spokeswoman for health officials in Wallsend, North Tyneside, 300 miles north of London, said the hearing was part of a process that could eventually lead to Connor being taken into protective care. She declined to comment further.
The health agencies organizing the meeting said they "have been working with the family over a prolonged period of time and will continue to do so."
Officials would not say whether Connor suffered from a medical condition that led to his obesity, citing privacy issues.
An unidentified health official was quoted as telling The Sunday Times that taking custody of Connor would be a last resort, but said the family had repeatedly failed to attend appointments with nurses, nutritionists and social workers.
"Child abuse is not just about hitting your children or sexually abusing them, it is also about neglect," the official was quoted as saying.
Dr. Colin Waine, the director of the National Obesity Forum in Nottingham, England, called Connor's lifestyle "extremely dangerous," adding he is at risk of developing diabetes in his early teens, and cardiovascular and nervous system problems in his 20s.
"He's really at risk of dying by the time he's 30," Waine said.
Dr. Michael Markiewicz, a pediatrician, agreed.
"I'm not saying they can't care for him, but what they are doing is through the way they are treating him and feeding him, they are slowly killing him," he said.
Connor's case attracted national attention after his mother allowed an ITV News crew to film his day-to-day life over the course of a month.
When the boy was 2 1/2 years old, he was too heavy for his mother to pick up and at 5, he weighed more than 126 pounds, said The Journal, a northern regional newspaper. Now Connor, who is tall for his age at 5 feet tall, wears adult clothes and size eight shoes, the newspaper said.
Connor's mother said he steals and hides food, frustrating her efforts to help him. He eats double or triple what a normal seven-year-old would have, she said.
"If I didn't give him enough at teatime then he would just go on at us all night for snacks and stuff," she told ITV.
Connor, who lives with his mother and sister, has difficulty dressing and washing himself, misses school regularly because of poor health, and is targeted by bullies.
"People pick on us because of my weight. They call us fat. It makes us feel sick of the nutters always shouting at us," Connor told ITV.
Edited to add an update
LONDON, England (Reuters) -- British social workers have decided to allow an eight-year-old boy who weighs almost 200 pounds (91 kilograms) to remain at home with his mother, who has refused to stop feeding him junk food.
Connor McCreaddie's mother says her 14-stone (196-pound) son will not eat healthy food like fruits and vegetables and had rejected a suggestion that she put a lock on the fridge.
Social workers had considered taking the boy into care. His plight has prompted intense media interest in a country increasingly concerned about rising child obesity levels.
But after a meeting with Connor and his mother Nicola McKeown, 35, the local council in North Tyneside in northeastern England said he would remain at home.
"We have had a useful discussion today during which all agencies and the family confirmed that the priority in this matter is the eight-year-old boy," the council said in a statement Tuesday.
"The Local Safeguarding Children Board was able to confirm that its hope and ambition is to enable this child to remain with his family."
The council said it had made a formal agreement with the family "to safeguard and promote the child's welfare". It gave no further details.
Single mother McKeown, 35, who suffers from depression, had dismissed allegations she had been neglecting her son, who is four times the healthy weight of same-age children and was even heavier before Christmas.
Connor, from Wallsend, Newcastle, has lost one-and-a-half stone since the start of the year after his mother sought advice from health workers and a dietician.
With studies showing Britain has the worst rate of obesity among children in Europe, the country's media regulator plans to ban television advertising for junk food aimed at school-age children from next year.