Double the normal weight, 9-month-old Chahat awaits help
AMRITSAR : This Amritsar child has been in the news for weighing more than double the normal weight for her age, but Chahat — 19.2 kg at nine months — may have to struggle more before she can be treated. Here’s why. To pinpoint what’s causing the obesity, doctors need to get her blood sample, but it’s proving to be a challenge due to excessive flesh. Worse, her father has cited financial constraints.
“She might be suffering from some hormonal problem, or some kind of tumour,” said Dr Sandeep Aggarwal, the child specialist at the local civil hospital who was treating her before referring her to Guru Nanak Dev Hospital. “She must be treated as soon as possible as her weight is ought to increase as she grows.”
Chahat weighed around 2 kg at birth, which was in fact slightly lower than normal for Indian babies; but she started gaining at four months. Her normal weight at nine months should have been 9 kg. Father Suraj (23), who works at cable operator’s shop, said he is finding it tough to pursue the treatment due to financial constrains: “I have responsibilities due to which things are being delayed.”
The parents had taken her to Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh, too. The father cited her ill-health and lack of cooperation from doctors as reasons why that did not move further. He said, “I kept running from one corner to another, but doctors were not cooperating. Yet, I will again go there and get her treated as well as visit the local Guru Nanak Dev Hospital on Monday.”
Dr Aggarwal said, “The diet of the child needs to be changed. She has to be involved in some kind of physical activity, and regular treatment has to be done.”