West Java: Arya Permana, named the world’s fattest child, weighs an eye-watering 192 kilograms and eats five meals a day consisting of rice, fish, beef, vegetable soup and Tempeh – a soy patty large enough to feed two adults.
Arya, from West Java Province in Indonesia, has dropped out of school as he can no longer walk and his mother Rokayah said he is ‘perpetually hungry’.
‘He has an enormous diet and can actually eat meals of two adults at one time,’ she said.
‘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.’
Arya’s parents have decided to limit the amount the ten-year-old eats per day and he is now on a diet of just brown rice.
‘He can only take small steps before he loses balance. I wish to see my son studying and playing with other kids in the neighborhood.’
Arya, the second son of Rokayah, 35, and her husband Ade Somantri, 45, a farmer, was born at home via natural birth and weighed a normal 3.2 kilograms.
But by the time he turned two years old, Arya had gained weight at an abnormal rate for his age. Despite this, his parents said they were not worried initially as they were happy to see their son ‘healthy’.
Rokayah, who also has an elder son Ardi, added: ‘He was fatter than my first son and other children in the village but we did not think it was a matter of concern. We were happy to see him fuller and considered him to be a happy, healthy child.’
‘But it was only a few years later when he bloated and his weight went out of control, we realized he was suffering from a disorder and needed medical attention.’
Rokayah and Ade 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.
Father Ade said: ‘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.
‘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.
‘I am exhausted now and I cannot afford expensive hospitals. But I hope to see my son perfectly normal one day,’ added Ade, who makes £100 a month.