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CassandraAlexis -> RE: Obese boy may be taken from parents (2/25/2007 11:18:30 AM)
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yes, 14 stones is 196 lbs , so this 8 yr old is just under 200 lbs.He is 5 ft tall according to one newspaper. Other than the shock of the numbers, there are other things that jump out even more to me.
"One National Health Service source said: “We have attempted many times to arrange for Connor to have appointments with community and paediatric nutritionists, public health experts, school nurses and social workers to weigh and measure him and to address his diet, but the appointments have been missed. " This seems to indicate to me that the parents really werent proactive until the threat of losing their son produced itself. Especially since the school is on the list, so I am sure that missing school time to make an appointment wouldnt have caused an issue for them. If transportation was the issue, there are plenty of organizations here in the US that will help with that to get to medical appointments, I suspect it is the same in the UK.
I also did a little more research on this child, seems he has been international news for over a year. Last year at age 7 and between 14 and 15 stones, Nicola [his mom] stopped sending Connor to school because he struggles to make the short 5 minute walk from their home without running out of breath and sometimes even vomits with the exertion." and was sleeping on the floor because he had broken so many beds. At that time his mom said:
"He won't eat salad, fruit or veg, which makes things hard, but I make him meals like pasta or rice and a sauce for his tea."
During an average day, Connor will eat three pieces of buttered toast for breakfast, sandwiches or a school meal for lunch, and pasta or a rice dish in the evening.
But Nicola says his downfall is crisps, and he will snack on about four packets a day."
In addition "it was typical for him to consume four Yorkshire puddings with his evening meal and demand snacks every 20 minutes... We have only just got Connor off processed foods such as sausages and burgers and to start eating meat and poultry, but it is very difficult because we are limited to what he likes. He likes chips and mashed potatoes and all the wrong foods. I am trying to introduce healthier foods to his diet but he refuses to eat 90% of them.”
That christmas he made the news again when he asked a TV hypnotist to "cure him of his 30 giant bag a week addiction to crisps".
This article has a more complete list on what he was eating on a daily basis:
http://timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article1434671.ece
The biggest thing that jumped out to me was that "He won't eat salad, fruit or veg" ... and "he refuses to eat 90% of them" to me thats a parenting thing. Also one of the articles mentioned his mom said "When he was a baby I had to give him bottles every hour and he used to constantly cry with hunger." So she started indulging him as an infant, feeding him to keep him from crying ? Indulging him and giving him snacks every 20 minutes seems to be the same sort of behavor.... instead of letting television be his babysitter, she is letting food be his babysitter.
One of the articles mentioned his family doesnt have a history of obesity and he has a teenage sister who is a size 8.
However there may be hope, the grandmother broke into the house and threw out their deep fat fryer and installed a steamer last week and has made an appointment for the boy to see a child obesity specialist, which SHE will take him to.
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