Mother of 14-stone boy 'nervous' over care meeting

The mother of an eight-year-old boy who weighs 14 stone was anxiously waiting today to find out whether her son was to be taken into care by social workers.

Before Christmas Connor McCreaddie weighed in at 15 stone 8lb – four times the weight of a healthy child of his age.

After beginning an intensive exercise regime and swapping junk food for healthy alternatives, Connor, from Wallsend, North Tyneside, has lost one and a half stone in two months.

But social workers could still take the radical decision to place him in care when they meet today to discuss his progress in losing weight.

Connor and his mother, Nicola McKeown, 35, will both attend a child protection conference with North Tyneside Council.

The very last resort would be for social workers to place him into care but Ms McKeown, who suffers from depression, is hopeful this will not happen.

Today, the single mother of two briefly spoke of her worry about this afternoon’s meeting.

“I’m not too good and I’m very nervous about the meeting. I’m hoping for the best,” she said.

Despite being thrust into the spotlight, Connor went to his local primary school as normal yesterday but today his mother kept him away in preparation for the meeting with social workers.

An edition of Tonight With Trevor McDonald exploring child obesity, shown last night, featured the schoolboy, whose daily life was followed by film crews for a month.

It laid bare the full extent of the health, practical and emotional problems that Connor’s size poses after his mother agreed to allow cameras into the family home.

Health workers and a dietician have been helping the family after Ms McKeown went to professionals for assistance but she claimed they had been of little use.

She told GMTV: “Through Connor’s weight gain there’s been no-one there to step in. He’s been going to doctors and stuff, he’s been getting weighed, and no-one’s actually stepped in and said ’Look, there’s a problem here, we have to get it sorted.’

“So I asked for help and it’s been offered but it hasn’t been given yet.”

She said Connor had started to make an effort to lose weight after last summer when he became self-conscious about his body, but that his school nurse and GP had not been very helpful.

“I’ve only had reports from the school nurse now and then. Every time she said something was a problem we took him to his GP and they assessed and weighed him, took his height and everything, and just basically said go away and watch what he eats. But that’s what I’ve been doing constantly.”

She also urged social workers to let her carry on caring for her son and dismissed claims that she had been neglecting him.

She said: “I think it’s really terrible. They’ve tried to say that I’ve neglected Connor and he should come under the Child Abuse Act, and I think it’s really disgusting.”

North Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Primary Care Trust issued a statement saying they were also concerned about Connor’s health and were working with the family.

It said: “We share the concerns over the child’s health and well-being.

“North Tyneside Council and North Tyneside Primary Care Trust have been working with the family over a prolonged period of time and will continue to do so.

“The child’s interests are paramount.”