London:
A nine-year-old boy in Britain was neglected so badly by his mother that it shunted his growth, leaving him a dwarf.
The boy, who was not named, developed a condition called 'psychosocial dwarfism', in which body stops producing a growth hormone due to extreme stress. This left him significantly shorter than his six-year-old brother.
The incident came to light when some social workers called in to work with the 28-year-old mother and discovered that the boy was not being given breakfast, was riddled with lice and could not remember the last time he saw a doctor, a court heard.
His teeth were decaying as mother had never taught him how to brush his teeth, The Daily Mail reported.
Daniel Sawyer, prosecuting, said, "In 2008 police had searched her home regarding an unrelated matter and discovered the three bedroom house was untidy and grubby."
"Social workers were called in and interviewed the boy at school. They found he had ingrained dirt on his palms and scratches on his forearms that came from a puppy."
The boy's sole meal for the day was junk food with his mother taking him to Big Mac every night for burgers, chips or chicken nuggets. He did not have breakfast and went to school hungry and had no regular baths and in school smelled of urine.
When he went to live with his father he would eat his food very quickly and exhibit hoarding behaviour. At four in the morning he would get up, take food and hide it in places.
Robert Bryan, defending the woman, told the court: "She is still young and struggles to cope with the children on her own."
The woman, from Portsmouth, Hants, admitted one charge of neglect at Winchester Crown Court. She was given a 12 month prison sentence, suspended for two years. She was also ordered to attend a parenting course.