A 10-year-old boy from Indonesia, who is considered as the world’s heaviest kid, is being put on a crash diet for fear that he may die.
Arya Permana weighs 192kg and is categorised as morbidly obese.
His mother, Rokayah Somantri, 35 said that her son’s fast weight-gain has led him to stop school because he can no longer walk.
Ms Somantri and her husband, Ade Somantri, 45, said that due to their son’s incredible weight, they can no longer find clothes that fit him, so Arya is now wearing just a sarong.
They also said that Arya eats five meals a day, which consist of rice, fish, beef, vegetable soup and Tempeh, a traditional soy patty, and consumes an amount enough to feed two adults, but now they are trying to cut his diet “” for fear he might die.
“I do not know any other way to stop him from gaining more weight than to give him less food…He is always tired and complains of shortness of breath. He only eats and sleeps, and when he is not done with both, he jumps into the bathtub and stays there for hours…He can only take small steps before he loses balance. I wish to see my son studying and playing with other kids in the neighbourhood,” Ms Somantri said.
Arya, the couple’s second son, was born at home via natural birth and weighed a normal 3.2kg, but by the time he turned two years old, Arya had gained weight at an abnormal rate for his age. However, the couple said that they were not worried initially as they were happy to see their son “healthy”, but their concern grew when a few years later, Arya bloated and his weight went out of control, and they realised he was suffering from a disorder and needed medical attention.
The couple took Arya to several doctors in their village in Cipurwasari in West Java, Indonesia, but surprisingly, doctors did not find anything abnormal about his alarming weight. Mr Somantri, who is a farmer and only makes $180 a month, said doctors have recommended they take Arya to better hospitals.
“I have spent money beyond my capacity on his treatment but I am a poor farmer and making ends meet is a big task for me. I have insufficient money to buy food to fulfil his large appetite. I borrow money so that he can eat. Of course, I cannot keep him starving. But I hope to see my son perfectly normal one day,” he said.
So for now, the couple have put Arya on a diet of brown rice in the hope of controlling his weight. “I have started putting him on a brown rice diet. I am not sure if it helps, but this is the only thing I can do to stop him from growing bigger,” Ms Somantri said.
Source: News.com.au
