Obese baby 'rescued' by charity

Santiago Mendoza.

Colombia's most obese baby - who weighs the same as a six-year-old child - has been "rescued" by a charity so he can undergo life-saving treatment.

Santiago Mendoza, eight months, already tips the scales at 3.1-stone, was flown from his home in the northeastern city of Valledupar to the capital Bogota on Sunday.

Volunteers from Medellin-based Chubby Hearts foundation (Gorditos de Corazon) stepped in to transport the boy after his mother Eunice Fandiño wrote in asking for help.

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.

Caracol Radio reports that Santiago has suffered medical complications due to his weight since he was born, and has already been hospitalised on several occasions.

Chubby Hearts director Salvador Palacio González said the child would be evaluated by specialist doctors at the Colina Clinic.

Medics will then try to bring his weight down to a manageable level before submitting him to a series of operations, 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.

Fandiño revealed that she was practically confined to her home as the baby was 'too heavy' to take out and about.

But she added that she was "optimistic" about the help she was receiving and has promised to follow the instructions she's given by doctors.

Santiago Mendoza. Photo / AP

- Daily Mail