Arya Permana is 10-years-old,so young to understand the effects of obesity.The boy is so heavy that je cannot walk.His body has grown extremely big to the point of wearing just a sarong as clothes
Permana has become a liability to his mother since his stomach demands at least 5 meals a day.In a normal day he eats rice, fish, beef, vegetable soup and Tempeh – a soy patty large enough to feed two adults. When advised to control his appetite, Permana cries uncortollable,which prompts the mother, who is in constant stress to offer him food.
Arya, from West Java Province in Indonesia, has dropped out of school as he can no longer walk and his mother Rokayah said he is ‘perpetually hungry’
Despite visiting doctors from hospital to hospital due to Arya deteriorating health , Rokayah,the boy’s mother,says her son has never considered following the doctor’s advice.As a result the boy has developed breathing difficulties.
His mother cries:
‘He is always tired and complains of shortness of breath. He only eats and sleeps and when he is not done with both, he jumps into the bathtub and stays there for hours.’
Arya’s parents have decided to limit the amount the ten-year-old eats per day and he is now on a diet of just brown rice.
‘My son is growing up at a rapid rate and I am worried for his health. I do not know any other way to stop him from gaining more weight than to give him less food,’ Rokayah said.
‘He can only take small steps before he loses balance. I wish to see my son studying and playing with other kids in the neighbourhood.’
Arya, the second son of Rokayah, 35, and her husband Ade Somantri, 45, a farmer, was born at home via natural birth and weighed a normal 3.2kilograms.