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BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
An eight-year-old boy who weighs over 14 stone (89kg) may be taken into care by a local authority.

Connor McCreaddie, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, has lost a stone and a half in two months, but still prefers processed food to fruit and vegetables.

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

Family support may be offered, but the last resort would be for North Tyneside officials to place Connor into care.

...

Ms McKeown, 35, told the BBC: "Connor had a mouthful of apple once and he didn't like it.

"He refuses to eat fruit, vegetables and salads - he has processed foods.

"When Connor won't eat anything else, I've got to give him the foods he likes.

"I can't starve him.

"But I'm confident I can get his weight down with a bit of help."

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

...

Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said that removing a child from their family could be justified.

"The long-term impacts of this child's gross obesity are frightening.

"He has great risk of diabetes and coronary illness.

"His life expectancy is severely prejudiced. So action is required if his health is to be safeguarded."

A spokeswoman for North Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Primary Care Trust, said: "We share the concerns over the child's health and well-being.

"We have been working with the family over a prolonged period of time and will continue to do so.

"The child's interests are paramount."

- BBC


This is very sad.

Finally the authorites seem to realise that malnourishment through 'over-eating' is just as harmful and 'negligent' as it is through 'starving' a child.
 

Keebler

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2005
2,960
207
Canada
well, it might be a genetic disorder, but just from the quote (and it's just 1 quote from the mom), but "i have to give him what he wants"

BS!!!! put good food on the table. he either eats or doesn't.

believe me, a hungry kid will eat just about anything.

this is, unfortunately, a true sign of today's society. not everyone falls into it (and i'm one of those b/c i can be an ogre to my kids, ensuring they eat properly)....but most people are too lazy, don't want to fight with their kids b/c they are too busy and/or stressed from work.

plain and simple: people don't discipline their kids like the days of old.

we're too afraid of having our kids get mad at us when ppl forget, we're not our childrens' best friends.

- we're their parents and parents need to supply direction. if you don't give them any direction and discipline....well....

they become 8 year old 89 kg (195 lb fata$$es). omg. i just did the conversion of 2.2 lbs/kg. that kid is huge.

he shouldn't be taken from his mom. they need someone to live with her to help teach the both of them how to eat properly and get a bit of exercise.

that is so sad.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,728
1,902
Lard
Babies refuse to eat a lot of things, but parents are supposed to train them, aren't they?

That's just incredible that she's let the child take control of her. It sounds as if she needed a parenting class and didn't get one.
 

Counterfit

macrumors G3
Aug 20, 2003
8,195
0
sitting on your shoulder
Wow, that kid is about 75% of my weight, but I'm almost 3 times his age, and probably at least twice his height.


Oh, and I will actually eat fruits and vegetables. (pineapple, bananas, steamed broccoli, granny smiths yum :D)
 

nbs2

macrumors 68030
Mar 31, 2004
2,719
491
A geographical oddity
What about apple pie? Get the best of both worlds!:D

welshandrew said:
Finally the authorites seem to realise that malnourishment through 'over-eating' is just as harmful and 'negligent' as it is through 'starving' a child.

Can we take children away from smokers as well? And parents who work so much that they see the kid for all of 5 min a day while their nanny raises the child?
 

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
Can we take children away from smokers as well? And parents who work so much that they see the kid for all of 5 min a day while their nanny raises the child?


If the Social Services/Worker believes that it's in the best interest of the child: yes.
 

nbs2

macrumors 68030
Mar 31, 2004
2,719
491
A geographical oddity
If the Social Services/Worker believes that it's in the best interest of the child: yes.

So the decision of parents should be second to the beliefs of a social worker? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that eating meat is wrong for children and wants my child taken from me? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that me taking my daughter out for walks during the winter is not in the child's interest.

At what point do we appoint social workers the parents of our children? If they really want such broad decision making power, they can stay up with her when she's ill, help her with her homework, and provide the love that I clearly cannot.:mad:
 

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
So the decision of parents should be second to the beliefs of a social worker? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that eating meat is wrong for children and wants my child taken from me? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that me taking my daughter out for walks during the winter is not in the child's interest.

At what point do we appoint social workers the parents of our children? If they really want such broad decision making power, they can stay up with her when she's ill, help her with her homework, and provide the love that I clearly cannot.:mad:


It's a sad fact of life, as in this McKeown case, that sometimes the State has to interfere in family life.

The people who make these decisions are trained professionals. Social Workers, Psychiatrists, Doctors, etc. all spend a long time training at university attaining a degree before entering their relative fields. If they all believe that this child (who is twenty years younger and two stone heavier than I am) is being 'loved to death' and needs to removed from the family, or the family needs help, then so be it.

(I really feel sorry for Social Workers. They are the people who have to go into other peoples families and ask the embarrassing and confidential questions that most people wouldn't, get treated like crap, and never get appreciated for their thankless task. You never read about the good work they do, only about when some poor child dies.)
 

Carrot007

macrumors regular
Sep 18, 2006
209
0
Yorkshire
This kid really needs help.

Obviously his mother can't teach him self control, so maybe it's best some one else does.

While he is this young he can still learn given the proper environment. In a few years time it may be too late to unlearn what he has been taught and will become a burdon on society.

Personally I have just tipped the 14 stone mark, but only need lose a stone (1.5 stone ideally), and I wil ldo, I know I've been having a bit too much guinees lately ;-)
 

Keebler

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2005
2,960
207
Canada
So the decision of parents should be second to the beliefs of a social worker? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that eating meat is wrong for children and wants my child taken from me? How should I respond to the social worker who believes that me taking my daughter out for walks during the winter is not in the child's interest.

At what point do we appoint social workers the parents of our children? If they really want such broad decision making power, they can stay up with her when she's ill, help her with her homework, and provide the love that I clearly cannot.:mad:

it's sad to say, but when the parents aren't 'parenting' and the best interests of the child's LIFE...not just well being, but their health...then absolutely.

this may sound crude and i'm not applying it to this mother as we only have a snippet of their life so who am i to comment on her, but this applies to others:

some ppl shouldn't be allowed to have offspring.

plain and simple.

some ppl are dimwitted, naive and not strong enough to be parents.

and it's sad b/c other folks would be perfect, but can't for whatever reason.

i hope the mom gets some balls and some health counseling, as well as the son. i really hope they don't just take the kid away b/c that would be teaching the mom nothing.

they both need help.
 

munchmime

macrumors member
Nov 14, 2003
62
0
trained professionals?

It's a sad fact of life, as in this McKeown case, that sometimes the State has to interfere in family life.

The people who make these decisions are trained professionals. Social Workers, Psychiatrists, Doctors, etc. all spend a long time training at university attaining a degree before entering their relative fields. If they all believe that this child (who is twenty years younger and two stone heavier than I am) is being 'loved to death' and needs to removed from the family, or the family needs help, then so be it.

(I really feel sorry for Social Workers. They are the people who have to go into other peoples families and ask the embarrassing and confidential questions that most people wouldn't, get treated like crap, and never get appreciated for their thankless task. You never read about the good work they do, only about when some poor child dies.)

DISCLAIMER: I am not running you down, or anyone reading this. I am more or less running our "system" Down. this is a general statement. do not take offense to my views on it. do not flame; I will not respond.

the college/University system is not what it used to be. The degresss are not what they used to be. the BA, BS seem more like what a high school diploma used to be - excpet they are way over priced. Why are they over priced? because colleges and universities are businesses. They are geared towards making money, and they are geared towards looking good. They do not want you to fail.

We all know that is doesn't exactly always take hard work to attain such degrees, and some people don't put forth the effort to attain these degrees, yet the degrees are greanted anyhow. I know M.D.'s that wouldn't have gone into pharmacology because that was "too hard" and the hardest part about becomming an M.D. was passing the MCATS. I know social workers who were higher than the mars rover could get from earth through their whole college/ university exp. .
It's sad when you have undergrads teaching in place of a professor. Most I have experienced undergrads tend to curve grades so they look good to the professor.

Then you have to think of all these parenting classes, and psychological professionals in this field telling us how our parents and grandparents grandparents raised children wrong. Now these are trained people, yet they for the most part have ended up screwing up the generation of kids they were supposed to help. I'm not advocating hitting children all the time, nor beating them... just saying that a good 90% of the accepted methods do not work, and children control the parents. Something needs to be done. I also find it funny when people who do not have children tell me how to raise my own; sometimes they do make valid points, most times, they have no clue because they do not know how kids behave and respond. Kids aren't dogs. Dogs are easier to train.

I am also starting to think that over education is what causes loss of common sense. I know some level minded people. They went off for their advanced degree's, and now... well everything is over thought, based on theory that doesn't work, and they make a really stupid decision that they spent too much time thinking on.

I am really starting to think that college isn't a good thing for everyone anymore. College / universities are businesses. They want money. You pay, you get a degree by any means necessary, and then you can have a job.
Professors do not want to look bad, and bad grades reflect on them. Most of them in earnest will allow extra credit and things of that nature to boost your grade. Let alone the fact you can drop a course, and resume it later for a better grade. At least in high school, if you failed, you failed. A teacher job wasn't based on how well grade preformance is. Tenure at colleges is a very different matter, especially when it is an undergrad teaching, wanting to look good for a professor who teaches less than half of his assigned work load. I also hate professors who just read from a book. If I wanted that, I wouldn't pay for his knowledge to teach me.

Please do not defend people with degrees. Most of us know that it just took a lot of bored hours, and "putting in time" to get a degree. I had fun in college. I enjoyed most of what I learned. I applied myself. I studied. I could have not studied and still done well. I do not in any way feel my education there was superior, nor do I feel I learned something that I could not have learned on my own if I wanted to. A degree isn't what it used to be any more.

Now a days, a degree is just a formality. I have even seen car dealerships asking for salesmen. The requirement is a BA or BS. Now how does that really enable you to sell cars better?


Edit: We all know that teachers are "The people who make these decisions are trained professionals. Social Workers, Psychiatrists, Doctors, etc. all spend a long time training at university attaining a degree before entering their relative fields."
The same type talked about in the quote above yet, they are drug users, child molesters, etc. All of this coming in at an alarming rate in today's society. example:
Who's that teaching in the classroom? http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070226/1057096.asp
 

Queso

Suspended
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
OK. I saw the programme on ITV1 about this last night. Firstly, I noticed that the entire family appears to be living on benefits. In itself not a problem, but when mixed with the second thing I noticed, namely the mother blaming the authorities because they hadn't given her information, there's one thing that becomes glaringly obvious. The woman is expecting everything to be handed to her rather than find her own solutions.

Why hasn't she gone down the local library and found books on nutrition herself? Can't she read, or it is that she's spent so much of her benefit money on cigarettes (empty packets of which littered both their house and garden) that she can't afford the bus fare? Why not just make the kid walk more and then reward him with time on his PlayStation afterwards instead of allowing him to sit there playing it day after day? Why can't she take control, figure out how to help both him and herself and act like an adult?

Whether this is due to her personal history or a product of the Welfare State mentality that people get trapped into is unclear, but to my mind the condition of every child is 100% down to the parents. She needs to wake up to herself, stop whinging about not getting help and take responsibility for her family.

Also she needs to stop smoking in the kitchen whilst preparing food. Bleurggh!!
 

Keebler

macrumors 68030
Jun 20, 2005
2,960
207
Canada
DISCLAIMER: I am not running you down, or anyone reading this. I am more or less running our "system" Down. this is a general statement. do not take offense to my views on it. do not flame; I will not respond.

the college/University system is not what it used to be. The degresss are not what they used to be. the BA, BS seem more like what a high school diploma used to be - excpet they are way over priced. Why are they over priced? because colleges and universities are businesses. They are geared towards making money, and they are geared towards looking good. They do not want you to fail.

We all know that is doesn't exactly always take hard work to attain such degrees, and some people don't put forth the effort to attain these degrees, yet the degrees are greanted anyhow. I know M.D.'s that wouldn't have gone into pharmacology because that was "too hard" and the hardest part about becomming an M.D. was passing the MCATS. I know social workers who were higher than the mars rover could get from earth through their whole college/ university exp. .
It's sad when you have undergrads teaching in place of a professor. Most I have experienced undergrads tend to curve grades so they look good to the professor.

Then you have to think of all these parenting classes, and psychological professionals in this field telling us how our parents and grandparents grandparents raised children wrong. Now these are trained people, yet they for the most part have ended up screwing up the generation of kids they were supposed to help. I'm not advocating hitting children all the time, nor beating them... just saying that a good 90% of the accepted methods do not work, and children control the parents. Something needs to be done. I also find it funny when people who do not have children tell me how to raise my own; sometimes they do make valid points, most times, they have no clue because they do not know how kids behave and respond. Kids aren't dogs. Dogs are easier to train.

I am also starting to think that over education is what causes loss of common sense. I know some level minded people. They went off for their advanced degree's, and now... well everything is over thought, based on theory that doesn't work, and they make a really stupid decision that they spent too much time thinking on.

I am really starting to think that college isn't a good thing for everyone anymore. College / universities are businesses. They want money. You pay, you get a degree by any means necessary, and then you can have a job.
Professors do not want to look bad, and bad grades reflect on them. Most of them in earnest will allow extra credit and things of that nature to boost your grade. Let alone the fact you can drop a course, and resume it later for a better grade. At least in high school, if you failed, you failed. A teacher job wasn't based on how well grade preformance is. Tenure at colleges is a very different matter, especially when it is an undergrad teaching, wanting to look good for a professor who teaches less than half of his assigned work load. I also hate professors who just read from a book. If I wanted that, I wouldn't pay for his knowledge to teach me.

Please do not defend people with degrees. Most of us know that it just took a lot of bored hours, and "putting in time" to get a degree. I had fun in college. I enjoyed most of what I learned. I applied myself. I studied. I could have not studied and still done well. I do not in any way feel my education there was superior, nor do I feel I learned something that I could not have learned on my own if I wanted to. A degree isn't what it used to be any more.

Now a days, a degree is just a formality. I have even seen car dealerships asking for salesmen. The requirement is a BA or BS. Now how does that really enable you to sell cars better?


Edit: We all know that teachers are "The people who make these decisions are trained professionals. Social Workers, Psychiatrists, Doctors, etc. all spend a long time training at university attaining a degree before entering their relative fields."
The same type talked about in the quote above yet, they are drug users, child molesters, etc. All of this coming in at an alarming rate in today's society. example:
Who's that teaching in the classroom? http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20070226/1057096.asp

you raise some great points. everyone shouldn't need an education for a job. some careers can be very yielding straight out of high school. it's a societal issue where we think more is better, when really, it's not. we need people to do every type of job or, who's going to drive that truck or clean that hallway etc..etc..

i never realized this before, but education seems to be more about big business and making money, rather than educating people...

good stuff.
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,728
1,902
Lard
OK. I saw the programme on ITV1 about this last night. Firstly, I noticed that the entire family appears to be living on benefits. In itself not a problem, but when mixed with the second thing I noticed, namely the mother blaming the authorities because they hadn't given her information, there's one thing that becomes glaringly obvious. The woman is expecting everything to be handed to her rather than find her own solutions.

Why hasn't she gone down the local library and found books on nutrition herself? Can't she read, or it is that she's spent so much of her benefit money on cigarettes (empty packets of which littered both their house and garden) that she can't afford the bus fare? Why not just make the kid walk more and then reward him with time on his PlayStation afterwards instead of allowing him to sit there playing it day after day? Why can't she take control, figure out how to help both him and herself and act like an adult?

Whether this is due to her personal history or a product of the Welfare State mentality that people get trapped into is unclear, but to my mind the condition of every child is 100% down to the parents. She needs to wake up to herself, stop whinging about not getting help and take responsibility for her family.

Also she needs to stop smoking in the kitchen whilst preparing food. Bleurggh!!

The likely problem is that her mother didn't teach her how to solve problems. She could be part of the third of fourth generation of takers in the family, also.

It seems as though the schools have to do extra parenting to make certain students learn how to take care of themselves and their affairs properly since their parents don't understand those things.
 

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
DISCLAIMER: I am not running you...


You make many good points about education and the devaluation of degrees, munchmime. It's a particular problem here in the UK with one of the aims of 'Blair's legacy' being that 50% of students eventually attend university - despite the acute shortage of skilled labour in the UK.

However, to be a Social Worker in the UK, you need a degree in social work. You need experience (usually acquired through volunteering) before you can begin the degree and then you need a minimum of 200 hours work experience before it will awarded. You then need to be registered with the General Social Care Council before you can work. I believe these 'conditions' will weed out all but the most dedicated individuals - exactly the people you want to be working as a Social Worker.
 

BoyBach

macrumors 68040
Original poster
Feb 24, 2006
3,031
13
Obese boy to remain with mother

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

...

A statement issued on behalf of the council'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's welfare."

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

- BBC
 

Queso

Suspended
Mar 4, 2006
11,821
8
Hurrah!! She can make him run down the shops to buy her 20 Benson's whenever she runs out. Doing that several times a day ought to see him drop a few stone :D
 

bousozoku

Moderator emeritus
Jun 25, 2002
15,728
1,902
Lard
I saw them on the t.v. tonight, though just a glance. She didn't seem inclined to take care of anything though the boy didn't seem dirty but maybe that was to counter allegations of neglect.
 

Graeme A

macrumors 6502
Aug 6, 2003
265
0
Melbourne, Australia
of all the damned things my home town get mentioned for...

mind, Wallsend is full of fish and chip shops, fast food joints, and very little else. the mother ought to know a bit better though... if my girl started getting like that, she would be starved... he looks as if he could skip a plate or two though and not come to any harm.

I wonder if they still do PE at the schools now? I hated "Games" and "PE" while at school but still did it.
 

Scintor

macrumors newbie
Feb 28, 2007
3
0
Conner has a genetic syndrome

Connor McCreaddie has a genetic syndrome which causes him to be both abnormally tall as well as abnormally heavy. If you pay attention to his statistics stated in the story, you might notice that as well as being heavy, he is nearly a foot taller than an average child his age. There are plenty of diets that can cause someone to be overweight. There is no diet in the world that can cause a child to grow a foot taller than normal by age eight.
How do I know that he has a genetic disorder and is not just a glutton? I have a child that is just a few months younger than him that could be his twin. Other than hair color, they look identical. He was born right at average length and weight, but by his two month check-up he was off the charts and has stayed that way.
After taking him to numerous doctors who had no idea what was wrong with him, we finally ended up at the genetics department of Children's Hospital of San Diego. The doctor ran many tests and concluded that he has a genetic disorder. Unfortunately, it is not a common enough disorder to have been named or studied, much less a cure or treatment to have been found.
His mother and I been have been married and together all of his life, and have worked constantly on his weight issues all of his life to no avail.
I cannot speak for Connor but my son has mild Autism and it is very difficult to change his habits. We have been working very hard to add foods to his diet, but have had very little success. He does dislike new foods, he is afraid of them.
If you will notice from the story, Connor does not eat large amounts of sweets and treats, but large amounts of meats. This is not something that a self indulgent glutton does. His mother also states that he is constantly hungry. Again, this is not consistant with the glutton. Gluttons eat when they are bored or anxious, not when they are hungry. (This has been shown in scientific studies.) There are gluttons around who are overweight because of personal habits, but if you look carefully, Connor does not seem to be among them.

Scincerely,
Scintor@aol.com:mad:
 
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