An eight-month old Colombian baby who weighs as much as a six-year-old will be undergoing a life-saving treatment for his obesity, UK MailOnline reported.
Flown in from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to the capital Bogota on Sunday as a "rescue" effort by a charity, eight-month old Santiago Mendoza has started to already tip the scales at 3.1-stone.
After his mother wrote in and requested for help, volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) helped to fly the boy in for medical treatment.
According to UK MailOnline, "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.
Due to his weight since his birth, Santiago has been hospitalized on several occasions. He has also suffered from medical complications, Caracol Radio reported.
Specialist doctors at the Colina Clinic will be evaluating the child's health, Chubby Hearts director Salvador Palacio González said.
Before submitting him to a series of operations, medics will then try to bring his weight down to a manageable level, 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.
As the baby was "too heavy" to carry around outside, Fandiño revealed that she had been forced to stay mostly at home, UK MailOnline reported.
Promising to follow the doctor's instructions, she claimed to be "optimistic" about the help she was receiving.
"Another large baby was an 11-month-old who was already the size of an eight-year-old." According to UK MailOnline, "The giant baby tipped the scales at a whopping 61lbs 12oz (28kg) and stands four and a half stone larger than his older brother."
