When Chrissie Swan posed for a photo shoot with her two young sons she had no idea it would spawn such fervent debate over her son's weight and eating habits. With nine-month-old Kit on her knee, her elder son Leo peeking cheekily over her shoulder, it’s a candid moment between a mother and her sons.

But far from evoking the usual “oohs” and “aahs”, the photos garnered an ugly wave of opinion. “Wish it hadn’t turned out so yuck,” Chrissie tweeted after the images were released. She was, of course, not referring to the shoot itself, but the furore that followed. “When I saw how fat that kid was I was shocked and repelled. Truly runs close to child abuse,” sniped one critic. “The two fat kids are destined to an early grave by the looks of it. I wonder what their diet is?” said another.

But not everyone was on the attack. Many jumped to Chrissie’s defence, calling “bully” on the cruel comments. “I have watched in horror over the past few days as people have written the most insulting and cruel things about Chrissie and her beautiful sons Leo and Kit,” wrote Mamamia.com.au’s Rebecca Sparrow.

“If you are really feeling as good about yourselves as Chrissie obviously does about her own self, then you wouldn’t feel any need to be so judgmental about her or her family,” wrote another supporter. The scandal gained momentum when Chrissie bravely recounted in her Sunday Life column the moment she realised that Leo, 3, was overweight. “Last month he had a check-up with the maternal health nurse, and that was when the news of his extra seven kilos was broken,” Chrissie wrote.

Read more about Chrissie and what other experts say about her son in this week's Woman’s Day on sale Monday June 11, 2012.