Is it child abuse?

Connor McCreaddie of Wallsend, England, is 8 years old. He is also 218 pounds. On Tuesday, Connor and his mother had to meet with the County Council (equivalent to our court system) to determine if Connor was facing harm at home due to his diet. Ms McCreaddie was worried about loosing custody of Connor. However, the North Tyneside County Council determined that Connor could stay with his mum but they all needed to watch over him to ensure that this situation does not get out of hand.

Recently, ITV, a British televison network, followed Connor around for a month watching his every move. He would eat snack every 20 minutes, usually comprising of chips and cookies (or in British, crisps and biscuits). He can put away 8 lunch sized bags of chips and 3 packages of cookies a day. For dinner, his mother would prepare french fries, buttered bread and other bad things. She tells Connor to stay out of the fridge between meals, (which he ignores) and refuses to put a lock on the fridge. She admits that he was a big baby. At age 2 1/2, she could not pick him up anymore and at age 5, he was 126 pounds.

Is this abuse? I think that it can be if the mother is not doing anything about this situation. She is not forcing him to exercise and it is aparent that she is not changing the diet. I am sure that she is not deliberately trying to fatten him up like the witch in Hansel and Gretel, but in this age, it is necessary to be more cognizant of diet and weight. It is all just sad. I can understand that she is a single parent of 2 kids and that it is hard, but if she were to put a little bit of effort into it, it could go a long way. Maybe take the kids to the park every other day. Throw in some salad instead of bread. Try some vegetarian dishes. GET A LOCK FOR THE FRIDGE! He will not starve to death, he will just gripe until the next meal time.

I think that the County Council made a good move in not removing him from his mothers custody. That probably would have been detrimental to him and caused depression which leads to even more eating. They should just help his mother construct a diet and exercise plan for him. That is all that he can do for now. Maybe they should also check him for a disease that may be causing him to be obease.... Whatever happens, a change needs to be made immediately before it causes long lasting effects that will be with him for rest of his life..