"XX is home ill: he is refusing to eat because he has no friends" I need some advice please

[GreenGables]

DD came home worried today, a boy in her class has been off ill with the flu. His mother has been in as a parent helper, and told my DD and classmates that her DS is really ill because, since Sunday, he has refused to eat anything as he is so upset that he has no friends. I always stop for a chat with this boy's mother and she hasn't said anything about it to me, only that her DS has a nasty bout of flu. She has mentioned previously that he is not getting on well in the class, and my DD has been telling me about how difficult they find him at school, because he is always interrupting the teacher with silly noises and can be rude to his classmates - so I know he has 'friendship issues', but I am really upset that this mother is trying to emotionally blackmail my DD by suggesting that he is not eating because she and others are not trying hard enough to befriend him. I am also quite cross that she may have put the seed of anorexia or some other such illness into these young minds. I am quite certain that this boy is not off school because he is refusing to eat, but because he has the flu.

I need some perspective on this, and some idea of how I can sensibly deal with this.

[GreenGables]

Ps. Sorry if this is the wrong place to post.

[saadia]

I think you should have a word with the class teacher, it's really wrong of this mother to say that.

[HAPPYMUMOF5]

What an odd thing for the mother to do how old is the boy?

[Scootergrrrl]

Perhaps you could explain that all this boy will do is make himself really poorly and that there are better ways of dealing with things if you have a problem.

[Colditz]

What shocking behavior! Definitely tell the class teacher. How dare she try to bully the other children in her son's class!