The mother of a 196-pound, eight-year-old boy in northern England will find out Tuesday whether her son will be taken into the care of social workers to force him to lose weight.
Nicola McKeown has defended the way she feeds her son Connor McCreaddie, saying the boy simply refuses to eat healthy foods, so she has to feed him burgers, fries, sausage sandwiches and chocolate cookies.
"When a child won't eat anything else, you've got to feed them what they like," the single, 35-year-old mother told BBC Radio on Monday. "He likes processed foods and if I try him with any salad, vegetables, fruit, he just refuses to eat it or spits it out."
At 89 kg, Connor is now four times the weight of an average child of his age, has difficulty dressing and washing himself and misses school regularly. He owns a bike and a trampoline, but has to stop using them after 10 minutes because he can vomit when out of breath.
His mother tells ITV1's "Tonight With Trevor McDonald" that Connor is "well cared for."
"It is just the fact that he has totally demented me wanting to be fed constantly. It is so hard," she said in an interview to air Monday night.
The family from Wallsend, Newcastle, faces a child protection conference with North Tyneside Council on Tuesday. The council may decide to take the boy into care.
But McKeown is confident she can help her son lose weight if he stays at home to continue a diet and exercise regime that has seen him lose 20lbs in two months.
A pediatrician, two specialist obesity nurses, a police officer and two social workers will assess the boy's health at the conference and decide if he should be placed on the "children in need" register which could see him them taken into care.
McKeown told ITV1 she doesn't want her son taken away but would be interested to see whether anyone else can get her son to eat properly.
"I would like to say, 'Cope with a hungry child 24/7, and constantly hassling and nagging you'. I would love them to actually have to handle Connor for a couple of days. They would soon want to give him back."
McKeown complains that she has not received enough support from the North Tyneside Council health authority and doesn't appreciate the criticism she is now receiving.
"These are people that have never helped us before now," she told ITV1.
"I asked to have a social worker to help me and this is what it has come to."
The council says that taking the boy away from his mother is a last resort.
In a statement the Wallsend authorities said: "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."
