23 March,2011 07:05 AM IST | | Agencies
Esperate parents of a 57 kg three-year-old have told how they can't make the giant toddler diet because they are scared of him.
Lu Hao, from China, is dangerously overweight, and at 57 kg is five times as heavy as other boys his age.
He is getting so big his family are frightened of him and have given up trying to stop the youngster from gorging on huge plates of ribs and rice.
His parents claim he throws vicious tantrums if he doesn't get third or fourth helpings of dinner.
And mum Chen Huan from Guangdong Province, admits, "We have to let him be as if we don't feed him he will cry nonstop."
She said she has tried to cut down his meals in the past, but despite her best efforts he still managed to put on a whopping 9.52 kg in the last year alone.
He has already been banned from nursery over fears his size might be a danger to other children, and usually plays alone at home.
But moving around is becoming tougher and tougher for the toddler, whose weight means he gets out of breath easily.
Ironically when Lu Hao was born he was underweight, atu00a0 2.58 kg, but he started piling on the pounds at three months old, and hasn't stopped since.
Dad Lu Yuncheng, who struggles to pick him up, said, "His appetite is so good that for a meal he can eat three big bowls of rice." Last year Lu Hao's worried parents took him to see specialists at the Guangdong Children's Hospital.
Doctors there said they think it is possible his weight gain could be down to a hormone disorder.
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Dr Lu Hong said, "He is not just overweight but very tall as well so we may be able to treat him if it really is hormonal. But he cannot remain like this or his heart will never stand the strain."
60 Million
Number of obese people in China
Did you know?
The record of the world's fattest baby is held by a Chinese baby, who at 10 months weighed 19 kg
