A 12-year-old boy who made headlines for weighing 190kg at just the age of ten has lost the title of ‘world’s fattest boy’ after shedding almost half of his body weight.
Arya Permana, from Karawang in West Java, Indonesia, was so morbidly obese he weighed the same as six boys his own age, struggled to walk more than five minutes at a time and spent most of his days lying down.
Last April he became the youngest person in the world to undergo a life-saving five-hour gastric sleeve operation to stop him from eating himself to near-death.
Before the surgery, the Indonesian World Records Museum (MURI) – the country’s version of Guinness World Records – named Arya as the heaviest boy on record.
Less than two years later and after doctors from the Omni Hospital in Jakarta removed a large portion of his stomach, Arya has finally been able to return to school after losing enough weight to enable him to walk.
‘I lost my appetite, now even six spoons [of food] already makes me full,’ Arya told the ABC.
‘They prevent me from consuming sweet food and drinks, particularly soft drinks.
‘I can play soccer, tennis, badminton, and most importantly, I can go to school every day’.
Doctors originally had called Arya’s condition ‘one of the toughest cases of obesity in the world’.
Arya was an enthusiastic and smart student until he grew so big that walking became impossible. He was forced to drop out of school and receive home tuition.
‘There was no possible way for us to take him to school so he had to study at home for one whole year,’ his father Ade said.
‘He could not play or do anything else like other children. He would only watch TV or play on mobile phone. It was extremely painful for us parents.’
Prior to the surgery he was living on a daily diet of five meals a day, fried chicken, rice, noodles and chocolate ice cream.
It was only when his health reached a near critical condition that Arya’s parents accepted their son needed urgent help.
His father, a 45-year-old who worked as a security guard, said Arya ‘had no sense of being full’ and would eat ‘two packets of noodles and two eggs, more than half a kilo of chicken and rice … four to six times a day,’ in ‘World’s Heaviest Child: Extraordinary People’, a documentary on his son’s story.
‘The saddest thing was watching Arya try to get up. He would get out of breath just walking five metres. We were very worried.’
His mother said she was the most to blame.
‘I regret it because it’s my fault. I didn’t control how much I fed him. I keep feeding Arya because I love my child.’
When he was born, Arya weighed a healthy 3.7kg and didn’t start gaining weight until he was five.
Gaining a staggering 127kg in just four years, Arya’s large size as a nine-year-old started to attract attention.
After collapsing at a school flag ceremony, he caught the attention of the country’s top doctors.
Following the success of the surgery, Arya is now able to walk to his school and play with his class mates.
His school uniform needed to be custom made and he uses a special desk and chair so he can comfortably sit to study.
Regular exercise and eating more fruits and vegetables is now part of the 12-year-old’s routine.
Arya was so severely obese he weighed the same as six boys his own age, struggled to walk
more than five minutes at a time and spent most of his days lying down
He eats healthy, walks for six minutes every few hours, does weight lifting and swims every day.
Inspired by his weight loss, Arya aims to lose another 50kg.
‘I am extremely delighted,’ the previously ‘perpetually hungry boy said.
‘I cannot express my happiness in words. It feels great to be back in school. Everyone likes me here. Teachers treat me nicely. I have made many friends and they are very good to me. I also get to play with them. It is so much fun.’
‘Arya has got his confidence back,’ he father explained.
‘He is a happy child and is completely enjoying all the attention at school. He aspires to become a machinist. I know he can fulfil his dream now.’
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