In 2003, Tanya McHale's mother found her six-year-old daughter trying to cut her flesh off because she was so unhappy with her weight. Two years later SALLY CHURCHWARD finds out how Tanya is getting on...

TANYA McHale is no ordinary eight-year-old girl. Children that age seems to think that vegetables were sent to torment them and the only nice foods are brightly-coloured, sickly-sweet and/or deep-fried.

But when Tanya is what her favourite food is she shouts out "broccoli", as if answering a question at school, before adding "because it looks like trees".

And the first thing that comes to her mind when asked what food she doesn't like is chips.

Tanya's mum Kerry Cozens is adamant that her daughter has, and always has had, a healthy diet.

But although Tanya seems follow a healthy eating plan that would make Gillian McKeith proud, the eight-year-old is still overweight at six stone 12lb.

That said, Tanya, who lives in Millbrook, Southampton, with her mother and three of her siblings, is much healthier and happier than she was on that day back in March 2003 when desperation drove her to take a carving knife to her own body.

Kerry had always known that her little girl was unhappy with her weight - and was herself concerned about it - but had no idea just how miserable Tanya was.

The problem came to a head when Tanya's younger sister was given a trampoline for her birthday and Tanya wanted to play on it.

"I said 'no' and I lied to her and told her she couldn't go on it because she was over five," remembers Kerry.

"But it was because she was over the safe weight. She read the box and saw the trampoline was suitable for children up to eight so she went into the kitchen, got a carving knife and tried to cut all her fat off."

Luckily Tanya didn't actually cut herself, but the incident was a terrible shock to her mother.

"She had indented her skin but she didn't do any damage - it was just the fact that she'd done it," says Kerry.

"It's just shocking. You don't ever imagine you're going to walk into your kitchen and see your kid so desperate."

Kerry took her daughter to the doctor the next day and eventually managed to get specialist help.

Tanya was diagnosed as having borderline diabetes and was admitted into a residential unit where she stayed from Monday to Friday for 11 weeks to help tackle her psychological and physical problems.

Today, Tanya is a very different child from the desperate one whose unhappiness so nearly resulted in tragedy.

Her weight has dropped from a high of eight stone four, she's no longer being bullied, has plenty of friends, is doing much better at school and seems like any other happy eight-year-old.

Not that everything's perfect. As I chat with Kerry and Tanya in their home, various minor food-based rows flare up. Tanya's upset because there's a party at school and she's been told she can't eat any of the food there. Her little sister pours her a glass of cola which she's not allowed and she gets upset. Tanya takes a forbidden packet of crisps and disappears upstairs with them with her babysitter in hot pursuit.

Kerry says the most difficult thing is seeing other children, including her slim siblings, eating foods she's not allowed.

"On a Friday night, with the other kids, it's chocolate, crisps, ice lollies and sweets constantly. Tanya eats the most healthily but she's the one with the weight problem."

Kerry hopes her daughter's doctors will eventually get to the bottom of her problem so she can lose her weight for good, but she's also optimistic that as she gets older she will shed the pounds naturally. Given the improvements in Tanya's size and happiness over the last couple of years, her hopes seem well founded.

"I think she's lost weight because the treatment she's had has helped build up her confidence. She's not so self-conscious and will join in things like PE," says Kerry.

Tanya says name-calling at school has greatly reduced and it doesn't upset her like it used to.

"It doesn't bother me if people are mean to me - I go and tell. I used to get called lots of names but now people are always asking me to play with them," she declares, before adding proudly, "And I've got two boyfriends."