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Santiago Mendoza is only eight months old but already he weighs 3st 1lbs – the same as a normal child aged six.
Now he has been taken from his mum by a charity which says it is “rescuing” the 19.5kg youngster so he can have life-saving treatment.
Mother Eunice Fandiño admitted that her own “ignorance” had made her son pile on weight because every time he cried she gave him food or milk to calm him down.
“He was born with an anxiety so if he cried I just fed him,” she said, adding that she was virtually a prisoner in her home because the baby was too heavy to take out.
Santiago – officially Colombia’s fattest baby – was flown from his home in Colombia’s north-eastern city of Valledupar to the capital Bogota on Sunday.
Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation stepped in after Eunice wrote asking for help with Santiago, who is said to have suffered medical complications due to his weight and has needed hospital treatment several times.
Chubby Hearts director Salvador Palacio González said the boy would be evaluated by specialists at Bogota’s Colina Clinic. They would try to bring his weight down then embark on a series of operations.
“What he will need is a long-term treatment, education, healthy food, and when he is older physical activity,” surgeon Cesar Ernesto Guevar told Colombian newspaper El Espectador.
“Otherwise, in the future, he could suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and severe problems with his joints.”
Mum Eunice said she was optimistic about the help she was getting and has promised to follow the instructions of her son’s doctors.
