Arya Permana is a 10-year-old child in Indonesia who is being called world’s most obese kid weighing 192 kilograms. Reportedly, the boy has been put on a crash diet because his obesity has started to affect his life.
Arya, from the village of Cipurwasari in Indonesia’s Arawang Regency, started gaining weight rapidly at the age of two, when his parents noticed that he was much larger that his older brothers had been at his age.
In the beginning, they were happy about his fuller figure and considered him a healthy child, but as the years went by and his appetite and weight got out of control, they realized something was wrong with the boy and he needed medical attention. They took Arya to several doctors, but none of them found his weight abnormal and told the parents to take him to a bigger hospital if they thought he needed help.
“They asked us to take him to better hospitals if we think he needs medical attention. 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,” the boy’s father, Ade, said. “I am exhausted now and I cannot afford expensive hospitals. But I hope to see my son perfectly normal one day.”
Arya Permana is perpetually hungry and goes through five oversized meals a day. consisting of rice, fish, beef, vegetable soup and Tempeh – a traditional soy patty. His mother Rokayah Somantri says one of his meals is more than enough to feed to full-grown adults. “He only eats and sleeps and when he is not done with both, he jumps into the bathtub and stays there for hours,” the woman said.
At 192 kilograms, Arya cannot walk without assistance, play with kids his age or attend school. His parents also have trouble finding clothes that would fit him, so most of the time he just wears a large sarong wrapped around his waist. The boy also has breathing problems and sleeps with his head leant against a wall to help him breathe easier, which has left him with a permanently bruised forehead.
The boy’s father, Ade Somantri, earns around $135 a month, which is not always enough to buy all the food Arya would like, so sometimes they have to borrow money just so he can eat. They’ve done it out of love, so far, but now that they realize their son’s weight is putting his health at risk, they are determined to help him lose weight the only way they know how – by denying him food.“No mother wants to stop feeding her children but I am unfortunate and helpless. I have started putting him on brown rice diet,” Rokayah said. “I am not sure if it helps but this is the only thing I can do to stop him from growing bigger.”
