Baby weighing 28kg baffles doctors
TECOMÁN: Like any other 10month-old, Luis Manuel Gonzales babbles and touches anything within reach. But he stands out in a stunning and perhaps lifethreatening way: he weighs 28kg.
He might need medical treatment costing a fortune, but his father earns a little over US$200 (RM837) a month. And doctors do not yet know why young Luis is so huge.
Mexico leads the world in childhood obesity and diabetes, and Luis is an extreme example of this unwelcome distinction.
At birth he weighed 3.5kg, about the same as his brother Mario, who is almost three but is now dwarfed by his baby brother.
At two months of age, Luis weighed 10kg. Over eight months, he gained a staggering 18kg.
“I thought it was because I had good breast milk,” said his mother Isabel Pantoja, 24.
His parents created a Facebook page and opened a bank account for people to donate money for Luis’ medical care.
The parents got a rude shock when a paediatrician told them he might need hormone injections that cost US$555 (RM2,300) each.
Despite lots of examinations, no one really knows what is wrong with him. One of the main hypotheses is that he could have Prader-Willi syndrome, a genetic condition in which children have an insatiable appetite and weak muscle tone. – AFP