A seven-year-old boy who tips the scales at 19 stone has had 75 per cent of his stomach removed in a desperate attempt to halve his weight.
Muhammad Yousuf from Kasur in Punjab, Pakistan, weighs four times more than an average child of his age.
The youngster, who is thought to suffer from Prader-Willi syndrome which causes an insatiable appetite, underwent an operation last week after doctors assured his worried parents it would help him lose half his weight within a year.
His mother Rabia Faisal, 31, said: ‘We kept feeding him because we love him very much.’
Muhammad whose daily diet consisted of 10 chapattis, two litres of milk, three plates of rice, as well as chocolate and ice cream, will be put on a liquid diet for six weeks.
His parents claim Muhammad, who was healthy until three months old, cannot walk for more than a few minutes without getting out of breath and has been refused entry to schools because of his size.
Muhammad Yousuf who tips the scales at 19 stones has had 75% of his stomach removed
Muhammad weighs more than four times the weight of an average seven-year-old (pictured with his surgeon Dr Maaz Ul Hassan (right) and father Faisal Nadeem, 37)
He was healthy until he reached three months old and his parents fed him whatever he wanted ‘because we love him very much’ (pictured at seven months old with his sister)
‘Will shed half his weight within a year’
The two-hour surgery, performed by Dr Maaz Ul Hassan at Lahore’s Hameed Latif Hospital, removed a major portion of Muhammad’s stomach in an attempt to curb his appetite.
Dr Maaz said: ‘We performed the laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, also called gastric sleeve surgery, which involves surgically narrowing the stomach.
‘I am expecting that [Muhammad] will shed almost half of his weight within a year.’
‘We don’t want to see our son in any pain’
Muhammad’s parents claim their son’s obesity caused many schools to refuse him admission.
Rabia said: ‘It was very painful to see school authorities not giving our child admission because of his weight.
‘I used to ask the school authorities that why are they so concerned of his weight.’
Muhammad’s parents are hoping their son recovers well post surgery.
Rabia said: ‘We don’t want to see our son in any pain. We want to see him play and live like normal kids.’
Doctors have assured Muhammad’s worried parents he will half his weight within a year
He has been denied entry to schools in his local area due to his morbid obesity
Muhammad is unable to walk for more than a few minutes without getting out of breath
Now he has had a major part of his stomach removed, he will be on a liquid diet for six weeks
Muhammad’s daily diet consisted of 10 chapattis, two litres of milk and three plates of rice
He also ate chocolate and ice cream every day (pictured at three years old)
‘We kept feeding him because we love him very much’
Muhammad was a healthy baby until the age of three months.
Rabia said: ‘[Muhammad’s] weight at the time of birth was only 3.5 pounds. He was quite normal like his other siblings.
‘But, he suddenly started gaining weight after the age of three months.
‘We took him to our family doctor who diagnosed for the first time that his weight is increasing at an abnormal rate.
‘At the age of four, [he] was weighing an alarming 75 kg.’
Failing to realise the seriousness of their son’s condition, Muhammad’s parents continued to feed him whatever he asked for.
Rabia said: ‘We didn’t control how much we should feed him. We kept feeding him because we love him very much.
‘He was suffering from constant bouts of hunger and would chomp down whatever he would find in the kitchen or fridge.
‘We used to feed him whatever he will ask for as within an hour after he eats he would complain of feeling hungry.’
‘But when we saw him getting out of breath just walking for few minutes, we were very worried.
She said: ‘So, we consulted several doctors in Kasur and we were advised by many to meet Dr Maaz, who is a specialist in such cases.
‘The surgery was costing us over £3,500 but Dr Maaz was kind enough and didn’t charge us any fee.
‘We had to pay only the hospital charges and the medicines, which was affordable for us.’
Muhammad endured a two-hour surgery at Lahore’s Hameed Latif Hospital (pictured after)
His parents say they want to see him playing and not in pain (pictured with his surgeon)
Dr Maaz (pictured) did not charge Muhammad’s parents for the £3,500 surgery
His parents therefore only had to pay hospital charges and for Muhammad’s medicines