14 Stone at Eight Years Old!

[Annabel]

How could this little lad get into such a situation?

Connor McCreadie (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6396457.stm)

[Eeyore]

I saw the interview on our local news last night, the mother claims she has had no help and it's not her fault as he only likes crisps and chocolate, so what can she do? ;)

Same with the kid, he only likes junk and has a tantrum if she gives him anything else.

The kid was ridiculous all he could say was "I dint like nowt else but crisps and choclit, dint like it yer na", he could barely speak or see for the rolls of fat round his face.

What can you say - apart from seeing where they come from I'm not surprised, you wanna see the adults round there! The blokes look like they're 9 months pregnant with triplets most of em ;)

[spartacus73bc]

I think chavs should be ENCOURAGED to weigh as much as this. Their short lives would incur fewer costs in terms of benefits and they'd find it almost impossible to jump over a fence with my telly.

[Beth]

Ouch! :o

I would say that I believe that to be a form of child abuse

give the child processed food and the child will eat processed food.

keep giving the child fruit and veg and eventaually they wil eat it

take the child for walks, exercise, swimming
take away the TV and the computor games
:(

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Eeyore &#064; 26th February 2007 &#045; 11&#58;14 AM) 240723</div>
Same with the kid, he only likes junk and has a tantrum if she gives him anything else.[/b]

and there is the thing&#33;&#33; junk food is full of additives and yes has been found to cause extremem behaviours like tantrums and hyperactivity etc&#33;&#33;

[Annabel]

the mum was on Radio 4 this morning, she was quite defensive kept on saying she couldnt starve her kid, and that he just wont eat fruit or vegetables, but i just think she must have started him off on the wrong foot in the first place, i feel completely sorry for him, and if she would only get a grip of herself - he wont starve himself if she leaves him with a plate of fruit to eat and nothing else&#33; there are so many delicious fruits he must like some of them&#33;

she is the one needing help as much as him&#33;

[StoneHenge]

Given the choice between sitting and eating their greens and being offered a load of sweets, I doubt that there are that many kids that would turn down the sweets.

However, there is a simple choice. You say no.

My kids would love to eat sweets and chocolate etc, but they know come hell or high water, the more they bug mum, the more the answer will be no. They know if they behave and eat their dinner, they get a treat at the end of the week for having earten well all week.

Are they suffering because of it? No, they are going to grow up healthy and happy kids.

There is no excuse for that boy being that bad. Maybe she needs a helping hand now, but she can always not buy the junk food and ensure he is offered healthier selections instead. He will eat it eventually rather than risk getting more and more hungry.

[Matthew]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(spartacus73bc &#064; 26th February 2007 &#045; 11&#58;17 AM) 240724</div>
I think chavs should be ENCOURAGED to weigh as much as this. Their short lives would incur fewer costs in terms of benefits and they&#39;d find it almost impossible to jump over a fence with my telly.[/b]

I hope that was tongue in cheek as I expect it was. :) Any child should not be encouraged to be obese and this kind of behaviour is indeed parental abuse and neglect, if the mother really is failing to make proper efforts. It is exactly the same as failing to provide food, shelter, warmth, etc to a child and is a form of physical (perhaps also mental?) abuse.

The report says:

"Ms McKeown denied she is neglecting her son, and said he would be "skinny" if she had been."

- She doesn&#39;t quite understand, yet - although let&#39;s hope the penny drops after the Child Protection Conference, when the Local Authority can exercise their right to remove the Child into their care. Maybe the lad will receive a better life chance and example with professional, foster parents or residential care. I think the LA are right in their actions to safeguard the child first and foremostly and if taking a Care Order or Accommodated status regarding him protects his interests and removes the ongoing neglect, then I&#39;m sure they would have worked with the mother/family long before taking such last-resorts.

An 8 year old child should be encouraged by example as he will, without a doubt, present himself with a serious health risk over the next coming years and by the age of approximately 30+ (if he continues like this), will be acutely obese and will be at a massive risk of premature death. Children at this age need lots of praise, support and positive encouragement to help make proper health choices - if it&#39;s more convenient for a parent to give junk, fast food, 100% of the time, of course he&#39;s going to prefer it - it will be an in-built, almost &#39;innate&#39; need now (although this is obviously learnt behaviour).

Mum also needs ongoing guidance, support and education on how to live a more healthier lifestyle and should definitely lead by example - the clip I&#39;ve just seen of her standing watching her son on a trampoline, cigarette in mouth (this is not a comment on smoking&#33;) is not a good start for her son. I wonder if there are any siblings or other family and what their lifestyle is like?

It will be interesting to watch the programme tonight, to see if there&#39;s any more sides to the story. :)

[Annabel]

One Life on BBC1 last week featured this girl: Bethany (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/5279052.stm)

she has three older brothers all slim, her mum is also slim, she said Bethany would just steal food she wasnt allowed to have. at eight years old, she was eight stone, quite considerably less than this poor lad.

Bathany has had surgery to help her lose weight, but she still experienced problems with food and i think this young lad also must have psychological issues surrounding food by now. I find it very distressing. :(

[Domestic Goddess]

My daughters would quite happily live on chicken nuggets, takeaways, crisps and sweets - IF I LET THEM&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

I&#39;ve insisted on veggies and fruit since they were weaned and that&#39;s they way it is in my house. I&#39;m the gorwn up and I&#39;m in charge - end of.

Sweets are fine as an occasional teat.

[coppernob]

I was reading about this today in disbelief, is the Mother stupid? If she really loved him surely her first concern would be his health? I know all children are different, my youngest has just declared himself veggie as killing chickens is cruel (his words and he is only 6) and would live on fruit and veg if he could , my other daughter likes veg but in moderation but my older three would live on junk if they could but are not allowed. They have a sweet tooth so desserts are freash fruit with natural yoghurt, lovely and easy. IMO the Mum is lazy and can&#39;t be bothered to cook or prepare :rant: Hopefully, this might be the kick up the b*m she needs.CN

[Sparrow]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Domestic Goddess &#064; 26th February 2007 &#045; 1&#58;39 PM) 240756</div>
My daughters would quite happily live on chicken nuggets, takeaways, crisps and sweets - IF I LET THEM&#33;&#33;&#33;&#33;

I&#39;ve insisted on veggies and fruit since they were weaned and that&#39;s they way it is in my house. I&#39;m the gorwn up and I&#39;m in charge - end of.

Sweets are fine as an occasional teat.[/b]


Thats exactly how i am dg with my two&#33;

Im overweight and i know what a struggle it is for me to stay at the same weight never mind lose some - but i am determined my kids will not end up like me struggling with their weight in their thirties while i have any influence over them&#33;&#33; If my two say im hungry mum they are pointed in the direction of the fruit bowl or get a yoghurt. If they refuse it and say can i have a sweet/biscuit the answer is no - so they either have fruit or go without. If i piled their plates with junk every night they would eat it - kids do thats why as the parent you have more sense than this. Sweets etc are a one in a while treat.

Have you ever watched Honey we re killing the kids on BBC3? Its an eye opener about the diets some kids have.

sparrow :angry:

[Annabel]

i am overweight as well and I do believe it really boils down to the habits you learn in childhood, my mum was never all that interested in cooking and she ran a fish and chip shop, so you can imagine what us kids had for our tea most evening&#33; :wow: if it wasnt for our grandma living with us for prolonged periods we would not have had any other kind of food i am sure. however my grandma was into BIG portions and I still struggle with that, adjusting to the fact i dont need my plate as piled high as my hubby&#39;s (who is nearly 6 foot and perfect weight for his height).

i am at least conscious of it and I make sure my daughter eats healthily in fact she has an aversion to most ready meals, yes if i let her she will eat as many sweets and crisps as she can get away with, but as DG says, they are fine as an occasional treat.

i think the Mum of that lad needs to be on a diet the same as him she obviously has issues of her own.

[StoneHenge]

I&#39;m not skinny either but for me it&#39;s I eat too much, not junk. just too much food full stop (which I am trying to cure).

So I want my kids to have good eating habits. I would feel guilty if they ran into problems in adulthood because of their diets as kids. I don&#39;t intend to put myself on that guilt trip at all (we as parents have enough on our plates brining them up).

I think the mother needs educating about herself and food, and then let it show through her love for her son. If she really cared that deeply for him, she would weather the few months it would take of him kicking off to get him into a good eating habit.

Not difficult. Just buy the rubbish, or limit it to treats.

[coppernob]

I&#39;m not skinny either but grew up with a Mum who wouldn&#39;t let us eat junk.We only were allowed one bag of sweets per week and no frozen ready food at all, she even made burgers etc from scratch and I honestly never went in anywhere like Macdonalds until I was about 18 :( .It&#39;s made me very aware of what I feed my lot and my Mum still would never dream of buying my lot sweets, she visits us once a week with a bag of fruit, honestly&#33; CN

[Planet 24]

I was reading about this today in disbelief, is the Mother stupid?[/b]

Short answer ...Yes
I&#39;m no sylph and I have a constant struggle with the thyroid and the lack of exercise due to the leg, but both my boys and Mr. P is normal weight for height - except Mr. P is beginning to get a bit of a paunch - which will soon go with what is planned.
There is no excuse, its just laziness, cant be bothered and lack of education syndrome and Eeyore is right about the place Ya na pet lamb...it&#39;s encouraged.

[Annabel]

Ya na pet lamb[/b] :lol: i have visions of them keeping pet lambs in the garden ready for the oven :lol:

seriously though, there has to be a heck of a lot of laziness and cantbebothereditis for an eight year old to get in the state he has&#33;

[Planet 24]

Cantbebothereditis...its hereditary in that neck of the woods :lol:

Its a well known medical condition
Its called 4 inch overhang :D


and its not pet lambs in the garden ...its coal in the bath...sorry that was unfair but I couldnt resist

[Planet 24]

OMG Dont tell me he still has a kludgie at the bottom of the garden with paper on the nail too:lol:

Oh Benzoe you do make me laugh :lol:

[Matthew]

Watched the programme last night and it was quite interesting - I thought Mum needs lots of support and help and perhaps doesn&#39;t have the skills at the moment to quite give the lad the help he needs. I would have liked to have heard more from Connor himself, what he thinks and feels about it and his insights, etc.

Connor&#39;s 18 year old sister definitely appeared to have more sense and maturity about her and Gran obviously cared a lot about Connor&#39;s wellbeing (just what would Mum do if she didn&#39;t come in every morning to help out?&#33;).

I see he&#39;s been allowed to stay with Mum today:


Obese boy to remain with mother

Overweight boy Connor McCreaddie has been allowed by North Tyneside social services to remain with his mother.

http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/images/42613000/jpg/_42613911_connor_eat203pa.jpg

Health experts met to decide the future of the eight-year-old, who weighs more than 14 stone (89kg).

Connor, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, who lost some weight but still prefers processed food to fruit and vegetables, could have been taken into care.

His mother, Nicola McKeown, had been called to a child protection conference with the local authority.

&#39;Formal agreement&#39;

A statement issued on behalf of the council&#39;s Local Safeguarding Children Board said it had a "useful discussion" with all agencies and the family concerned.

It continued: "The Local Safeguarding Children Board was able to confirm that its hope and ambition is to enable this child to remain with his family.

"In order to move this matter forward we have made a formal agreement with the family to safeguard and promote the child&#39;s welfare."

The hearing was held under Section 47 of the Children Act.

Minister concerned

Connor has slimmed down from 15st 8lbs since Christmas thanks to an exercise programme and eating healthier foods.

Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt has expressed concern about the case, and backed the involvement of local services.

Ms McKeown, 35, earlier told the BBC: "He refuses to eat fruit, vegetables and salads - he has processed foods. When Connor won&#39;t eat anything else, I&#39;ve got to give him the foods he likes.

"I can&#39;t starve him. But I&#39;m confident I can get his weight down with a bit of help."

Peer pressure

Brian Dow from the School Food Trust said: "Of course there&#39;s an element of parental responsibility here, but it&#39;s hard for a child to go out of the school gates now without being bombarded by messages about the wrong kinds of food.

"We also have an awful lot of peer pressure as well. I think what you see there is a child who&#39;s probably addicted to the kinds of food that are making him obese."

The boy&#39;s story was featured on ITV&#39;s Tonight With Trevor McDonald, which followed Connor and his mother for a month.

Source (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6402113.stm)[/b]

[coppernob]

I hope the threat of having him put into care has shocked her into changing his diet :cry:

[mazza]

It is quite incerdible how it has been left to get to this state. The lad is so far gone now, he is really going to face a big struggle to get slim - and that&#39;s even if he wants to.

His mum has been on breakfast tv and admits to having depression which could explain how she has been so weak about dealing with him...It&#39;s so very frustrating seeing how she acts about the whole thing. Plus the boy himself has nothing at all to say about it, no willingness to change - but then he is only 8 :( .

I know that if I have sweets, choccie biccies and crisps in the house, my lot will nag incessantly until they get to eat them. So the simple answer - I don&#39;t buy them&#33;&#33;

If they do come into the house, my lot know that they are &#39;treats&#39; only - but they will still try their luck ;) .

Having said that, my littlest one is happiest eating a bowl of spinach leaves and a few grapes for a snack...so something&#39;s going right there&#33;

[StoneHenge]

I&#39;m glad he was allowed to stay with her. I think it would have caused even more trauma for the family had Connor been taken into care. I still think she is wrong to blame every man and his dog for not getting help .I didn&#39;t see the programme, but did she say she had asked for help from the doctors etc when she saw his diet was getting out of control?

Surely the school could also help as well to try and encourage him. Kids can be cruel sometimes, but if the whole class set up a Connorothon which tracked his weight loss and he got rewards for loosing weight and he didn&#39;t have to worry about getting bullied at school, had supportive parents at home, a doctor who supports him and a health clinic he could go to to get weighed in, give him diet sheets and get him excited about a hobby etc, then he could do it.

At eight years old he&#39;s going to need to be constantly motivated, as their attention span can waiver very quickly, but with a little help,and if they sort out mum too, then he could do it.

I feel sad that if she has got depression, she&#39;s not had more support, but then Gran is there as is big sis, so they are there to help which they will all need to pull their fingers out.

I&#39;d hate to see a child end up with serious health problems later in life because he couldn&#39;t stop eating.

[Domestic Goddess]

As well as diet and exercise, I feel he needs counseling to help asess his relationship with food and perhaps even hypnotherapy to help curb his habits.

[Annabel]

Yeah, I thought the older sister and nan had their heads better screwed on than the mum - I said it before she needs as much help as he does.

i am glad he can stay with his family, they do clearly love him and it would be even more cruel to take him away from them.

[Sparrow]

:( There is another child on the front page of The Sun today - a 9 year old girl. She weighs 14 stone and is size 18. She is nearly 3 times the average weight for a girl her age. :(

It says in the paper her diet consists of

7am - breakfast - large bowl of coco pops 2 added spoons of sugar and half litre full fat milk.
12pm - school meal spag bol or sausage and mash with sweetcorn and chips. Rice pudding or apple crumble for dessert.
3.30pm - on the way home from school a family sized Galaxy bar (500g) and a bag of sweets.
4pm - two rounds of sandwiches and a pot noodle
5.30pm - dinner - roast beef or indian takeaway or pasta. Ice cream or apple pie for pudding.
7pm - two more rounds of sandwiches and another pot noodle.
11.30pm - 12 yoghurts or another full meal :o

She gets called fat b*tch at school :cry:

[Annabel]

hmm, I feel a bit sceptical about that diet...especially this bit:


12pm - school meal spag bol or sausage and mash with sweetcorn and chips. Rice pudding or apple crumble for dessert.[/b]

there is no way a school would give one child all that, the portions are very small generally, just enough to get them through til hometime really.

i think the Sun might be stirring it a bit, which is not helpful to anyone.

if i could ban one food outright it would be pot noodle, that stuff is the ultimate in cr*p food.

[Beth]

7am - breakfast - large bowl of coco pops 2 added spoons of sugar and half litre full fat milk. get rid of the choco and just have rice crispies, no sugar maybe a little bit of sweetner.....she can have some fruit on it to sweeten it


12pm - school meal spag bol or sausage and mash with sweetcorn and chips. Rice pudding or apple crumble for dessert.
As already said, you dont ever get served chips and mash and pasta on the same plate, after jamie oliver theres been a huge thing in school kitchens and before that too actually

3.30pm - on the way home from school a family sized Galaxy bar (500g) and a bag of sweets

where is she getting the sweets and choc from? dont give her any money for sweets :no: pack her an apple or other fruit for this part of the day

4pm - two rounds of sandwiches and a pot noodle
why does she need this? she has eaten on the way home from school and will eat again in an hour and a bit, again , only offer her fruit and a nice drink of fruit jiuice/squash, that will actually help to fill her up

5.30pm - dinner - roast beef or indian takeaway or pasta. Ice cream or apple pie for pudding.
takeaways? not needed, only have a takeawy once a week as a treat and parents should control the portiion sizes

7pm - two more rounds of sandwiches and another pot noodle.

she only ate an hour and a half ago :bigeyes: again offer her a healthy snack, dried fruit or a whole grain bar, a bowl of ceral before bed, the none choco type, will help her sleep and not feel like she is hungry


11.30pm - 12 yoghurts or another full meal[/b] what the hell is a 9 year old doing up at this time of night??????

[Eeyore]

Nicely put and I whole-heartedly agree :lol:

I wondered why she was up so late for such a young girl? Even I&#39;m not up then during the week and certainly not eating :blink:

[Annabel]

spot on Beth&#33;

the mum says she has padlocked the fridge but her daughter ripped the house apart trying to find the key. hmm, I know what i would do if my daughter was behaving like that ;)

[Beth]

blimey, so if a child is going to raid the cupboards you can reduce the fatr content of what is availbale for scoffing by only having healthy food in the house :doh:

same in this house, if there are crisps and cr*p to eat, I will eat it&#33; if there are only healthier options, then that is what I will eat

some people have no sense what so ever

like all these chocolate covered ceral&#33;&#33;

[StoneHenge]

I think everyone is along the same gist here. If you don&#39;t have it in the house, you can&#39;t eat it.

So if a child finds nothing but fruit and the like, then that will have to do&#33;&#33;&#33;

I keep loads of yoghurts, fruit and cereal bars around, so the kids can snack on that if they get hungry between school finishing and tea.

The sin bin is on the top shelf in a zip up bag which only comes out once a week&#33;

[Beth]

thinking about this again, where are the dietiacians?

also regarding the young lady, if she is breaking into cupboards to eat I would suggest that she is referred to a specialist to test for a condition called prada willis syndrome.

this is a nasty disability where the brain never realises that the stomach is full and sadly people who have it have a young mortality rate :(
its not really treatable
link here (http://www.ummeed.org/disorders/prader.asp)

[Annabel]

my daughter has been following this, she is like her Dad and a skinny minny and quite tall for her age.

this morning she asked me, if she had taken after me, (i am only 5&#39;2") would she be fat the way she eats so much, it knocked me for six&#33;

i was going to say yes, but when i stoppped to think about it, i dont actually think so because even though she does like the crisps and sweets a bit too much for my liking, she really does eat healthily, hates ready meals and most takeaways, doesnt even like macdonalds, so i said to her i didnt think she would be fat as she eats very healthily and does her dancing and swimming as well.

but it was a question and a half&#33; :blink:

[mazza]

I think you could be onto something with the Prader Willi syndrome Beth - if so, what have the GP&#39;s/consultants/dietitians been doing all this time though? :blink:

I have seen a programme about kids with that condition and they can be utterly hateful if they can&#39;t get food, so I can understand how some parents just cave in...honestly these kids were just diabolical unless they were eating something. :(

I don&#39;t think it&#39;s right that these kids have so much media attention at the moment, they have obvious personal problems which need to be addressed in private.

[Domestic Goddess]

Do you know if Obesity Surgery would help this syndrome? I&#39;ve read that younger and younger people are having surgery in the USA.

[Sparrow]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Domestic Goddess &#064; 28th February 2007 &#045; 5&#58;57 PM) 241506</div>
Do you know if Obesity Surgery would help this syndrome? I&#39;ve read that younger and younger people are having surgery in the USA.[/b]


A girl I used to work with who rings me occasionally was having this done at the end of last month. She went to her doctor to ask for a lap band but they wouldnt refer her for that because they said if she carried on eating as she was the lap band would just stretch as her stomach has so would be pointless. So she was referred to a hospital in Leeds for surgery to take away 2/3 of her stomach away. Its the same surgery the 18 year old girl had on the BBC3 program The 34 stone teenager i think it was called? She is only 30 and has 3 young children at home. I think she had got to the point where a diet just didnt help. She had no life in my opinion - she would be out of breath just getting up to answer the door. Im overweight but I can still run round after the kids playing with them and doing housework etc. She couldnt do any of this :( I feel sorry for her because she couldnt do anything with her kids but at the same time she didnt help herself. She still ate takeaways,macdonalds etc and spent most of the day in front of the computer.

I think its a big risk to take espec for the woman i know - there is more risk of something going wrong having this surgery than a lapband plus all that weight putting her heart under terrible strain.And three little kids at home :(

Something has got to be done to stop these kids getting like this before they end up with a lifetime of illness :(

[coppernob]

If it were my child with the weight problem, I&#39;d stop buying anything tempting, can&#39;t understand why she gives her £10 a week to waste on sweets when she&#39;s on benefits, sorry but :angry: I was thinking about PW syndrome too but surely she would have had teast for this by now? As for the school, most encourage healthy eating now and provide fruit etc.CN

[Domestic Goddess]

Even if these children don&#39;t have this syndrome,there may be psychological reasons for their eating habits. A lot of people have eating disorders and this is a mental health issue as well as physical health.