He ain’t heavy, he’s our offspring

THE parents of an 11-year-old British boy have been arrested for allowing their son to become dangerously overweight.

The couple were questioned by the police on suspicion of neglect and child cruelty after the alarm was raised over their 95kg child.

The boy, who is 1.5m tall, has a body mass index of 41.8 — close to double the healthy level — and was barred from activities on a recent school trip because of his weight.

According to The Sun, teachers at a specialist autism school he attends contacted social services after becoming concerned by his ballooning weight.

Doctors at a local hospital later alerted the police, who attended the family’s home and invited the boy’s parents to be interviewed under caution.

The father, 49, is believed to have spent time in a cell before being interviewed, and his wife was questioned the following day. They have both been released on bail.

The boy’s 43-year-old mother, who is unemployed, told the newspaper: “The idea they could take away my son scares me so much. I’m nothing without my kids. His weight isn’t . . . a big deal. I’m chubby and the whole of my husband’s side of the family is big. It’s genetics — you can be genetically fat.”

The family are believed to have placed the boy on a strict diet and said they encourage him to keep an active lifestyle by playing video games on the Nintendo Wii.

“He’s always been big,” said his father. “He was born with shovels for hands and spades for feet. Everyone on my side of the family is big. There’s nothing we can do about it. His favourite snack is steamed broccoli and he’s still big.”

But according to a social services report, the boy was unable to get up alone when he fell at a school swimming session.

A police spokeswoman said: “We can confirm a couple were arrested in March on suspicion of child neglect and cruelty. They were released on police bail.”—