Eight-month-old Santiago Mendoza (pictured with therapist Salvador Palacios, right and top left), who weighs 3.1-stone, was flown from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to Bogota on Sunday. Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) stepped in to transport the boy (bottom left) after his mother Eunice Fandiño wrote in asking for help.
Colombia's most obese baby - who weighs the same as a six-year-old child - has been ‘rescued’ by a charity so he can undergo life-saving treatment.
Santiago Mendoza, eight months, already tips the scales at 3.1-stone, was flown from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to the capital Bogota on Sunday.
Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) stepped in to transport the boy after his mother Eunice Fandiño wrote in asking for help.
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Colombia's most obese baby Santiago Mendoz (pictured with therapist Salvador Palacios) - who weighs the same as a six-year-old child - has been 'rescued' by a charity so he can undergo life-saving treatment
The 20kg child, pictured at a centre for the obese, has been taken from his mother due to his size
Santiago has already been hospitalised on several occasions because of his weight. His mother said she would always give him food or milk when he became upset - which caused his weight to increase
He was flown from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to the capital Bogota on Sunday after his mother called the charity asking for help with her child's size
She confessed that her own ‘ignorance’ had led to her son's unhealthy weight gain and that, every time he cried, she gave him food or milk to calm down.
‘He was born with an anxiety, so if he cried I just fed him,’ she added.
Caracol Radio reports that Santiago has suffered medical complications due to his weight since he was born, and has already been hospitalised on several occasions.
Chubby Hearts director Salvador Palacio González said the child would be evaluated by specialist doctors at the Colina Clinic.
Caracol Radio reports Mendoza has suffered medical complications due to his weight since he was born
Santiago is at risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and severe problems with his joints in the future
Medics will then try to bring his weight down to a manageable level before submitting him to a series of operations, he added.
‘Likely, what he will need is a long-term treatment, education, healthy food, and when he is older physical activity,’ surgeon Cesar Ernesto Guevar told El Espectador.
‘Otherwise, in the future, he could suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and severe problems with his joints,’ he added.
Fandiño revealed that she was practically confined to her home as the baby was ‘too heavy’ to take out and about.
But she added that she was ‘optimistic’ about the help she was receiving and has promised to follow the instructions she's given by doctors.
The child's mother says she was confined to her home as the baby was too heavy to take out
Chubby Hearts director Salvador Palacio González said medics will try to bring his weight down before he has a series of operations
Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) stepped in to transport the boy after his mother Eunice Fandiño wrote in asking for help
AROUND THE WORLD: LARGEST TODDLERS AND CHILDREN
At 132lbs, Lu Hao (below in blue) was already five times the size of a normal child his age when he was aged three.
The toddler from China eats a staggering three bowls of rice when he sits down for a family meal.
When Lu Hao was born he weighed just 2.6kg (5.7 lbs), however, from the time he was three months old he began to gain weight rapidly.
At 132lbs, Lu Hao (below in blue) was already five times the size of a normal child his age when he was aged three. Another large baby (left) was an 11-month-old who was already the size of an eight-year-old
