Connor McCreaddie has been allowed by North Tyneside social services to remain with his mother following a meeting of a panel of experts yesterday to decide on his future.

Connor, who weighs more than 14 stone (89kg), is from Wallsend, North Tyneside, and his mother was called to a child protection conference with the local authority over the issue of his weight.

His mother, Nicola McKeown, says Connor has lost some weight but still prefers processed food to fruit and vegetables.

A formal agreement was made between the authorities and the family to safeguard and promote the child's welfare.

The council's Local Safeguarding Children Board says it had a "useful discussion" with all agencies and the family concerned and confirms that its hope and ambition is to enable the child to remain with his family.

The hearing took place under Section 47 of the Children Act which means a local authority can conduct an inquiry if it has "reasonable cause" to suspect that a child is suffering, or is likely to suffer significant harm.

Connor has slimmed down from 15st 8lbs since Christmas thanks to an exercise programme and a healthier diet but according to his mother he still refuses to eat fruit, vegetables and salads and insists on having processed foods.

Connor who was so overweight he could hardly walk, had come to the attention of Health Secretary Patricia Hewitt who expressed her concern and supported the involvement of local services.

Brian Dow from the School Food Trust says there is an element of parental responsibility involved and Connor may well be addicted to the kinds of food that are making him obese.

Mr Dow says children are bombarded by messages about the wrong kinds of food.

After adjusting for various factors such as age, parity, body mass index, total calorie intake, physical activity, smoking, drinking and contraceptive use, the researchers found an 85% increased risk of anovulatory infertility in women eating two or more servings of low-fat dairy food a day compared to women eating one or fewer servings a week, and a 27% decreased risk of infertility for women eating high-fat dairy food one or more times a day compared to women eating a serving one or fewer times a week.

Dr Chavarro said: "Intake of total dairy foods was not associated with the risk of anovulatory infertility, but when the low-fat and high-fat foods were considered separately, we found a positive association between low-fat dairy food intake above five servings a week and risk of anovulatory infertility, and an inverse association between high-fat dairy food intake and risk of developing this condition."

Further analysis of the findings in which specific foods were investigated, showed that an extra serving per day of a low-fat dairy food such as yoghurt, appeared to increase the risk of anovulatory infertility by 11%, if the total daily intake of calories was unchanged. In contrast, an extra daily serving of a high-fat dairy food such as whole fat milk was associated with a 22% lower risk (with an unchanged calorie intake). The study showed that the more ice cream the women ate, the lower was their risk, so that a woman eating ice cream two or more times a week had a 38% lower risk compared to a woman who consumed ice cream less than once a week.

The researchers believe that the presence of a fat-soluble substance, which improves ovarian function, might explain the lower risk of infertility from high-fat dairy foods. "The intake of dairy fat, or a fat-soluble substance present in dairy foods, may partly explain the inverse association between high-fat dairy foods and anovulatory infertility," said Dr Chavarro.

Previous studies had suggested that lactose (a sugar found in milk) might be associated with anovulatory infertility, but Dr Chavarro's study found neither a positive nor negative association for this, and nor was there any association between intake of calcium, phosphorus or vitamin D and anovulatory infertility.

oxfordjournals/eshre