168-Pound 5-Year-Old Is Eating Herself To Death
Posted by: Annika Harris
Filed in:
news
5:00PM, Thursday September 3rd 2009
Suman Khatun weights 168 pounds even though she’s only five years old and three and a half feet tall. Doctors suspect she suffers from a hormone imbalance, like a malfunctioning pituitary gland, but since her family can’t afford to take her to Calcutta for expert treatment, no one knows for sure. Her family earns slightly less than $10 per week, so her appetite could literally eat them out of house and home. In one week, she consumes about 22 pounds of rice, 24 eggs, six liters of milk, and about 11 pounds of potatoes. When Suman, who also has trouble breathing because of her weight, isn’t fed, her mother says she screams, cries, and has even thrown rocks at her family. She’s also been known to sneak out and beg food from neighbors in her village. A local doctor first noticed her problem when she was three months old, but by the time she was two she already weighed 98 pounds. She has gained about 33 pounds every year after that. The doctor can only treat her symptoms, he says, because he doesn’t have the proper diagnostic treatment, but he fears Suman will die if she doesn’t stop over-eating or get medical attention. [The Telegraph]
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PinkRanger
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:06 pm: [report]
Not to insult Annika of course, but I feel pretty disgusted that this seriously ill child is being exploited like a circus freak.
Pinky
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:07 pm: [report]
So, what happens if they DON"T fed her ” 22 pounds of rice, 24 eggs, six liters of milk, and about 11 pounds of potatoes” ? I would imagine she would loss weight ! Will she starve if she is fed lets say only 10 pounds of rice and 10 eggs ? No.
lea322
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:15 pm: [report]
@PinkRanger: I agree with you…except now that she IS in the spotlight, maybe she’ll be able to get the help she needs.
@Pinky: I also agree with you. Some of that behavior is learned because now she knows that if she screams and cries she’ll get what she wants. That’s pretty typical toddler behavior.
PinkRanger
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:19 pm: [report]
@lea322: Definitely agree with you there. I wouldn’t mind contributing a little myself.
Coral
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:21 pm: [report]
@Pinky: I agree with you to an extent. But I feel like we have seen an influx of cases where very young children weigh in extremely heavy—and obviously a good part of this is because of an obesity epidemic and lack of nutrition and exercise. But I do think part of it is mental—and even more severe of an addiction than other food addictions. And just like with any addict, taking away food, can’t exactly solve the problem entirely. Obviously she will not starve is she is not fed all the food she wants, but I do think that a lot of this goes in conjunction with some sort of mental and psychological dysfunction.
writergirl
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:42 pm: [report]
If this was America, I would say it was a definately case of just obesity from overeating/over indulgence. But she is in India where they don’t have weight issues like ours.
My guess would be this *is* a hormone imbalance and even if they cut her portions in half, she would still scream and cry because her brain isn’t processing she is full yet.
retro chic
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:53 pm: [report]
There is def something chemical/hormonal going on there. But the behavior should not be tolerated once she receives medical treatment – the only upside to this releasing this story.
joyy
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 04:57 pm: [report]
I have to wonder if it isn’t a legit medical condition, given that she reached 98 lbs by age TWO.
Sofjna
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 05:54 pm: [report]
There is a disease called Willie Prader Syndrome, which is basically a gentic disease that causes a person to want to eat non-stop. Their brain never registers that they are full so they always feel hungry, and they will try to get food by any means possible.
retro chic
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 06:29 pm: [report]
@Sofjna: That really sounds right on the face of it (med sites have it as Prader-Willi Syndrome). Sure would explain the behavior too. Sad there’s little to be done. Unlucky genetic draw.
averardoll
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 09:12 pm: [report]
I was thinking Prader-Willi as well. They often have to lock fridges and pantries, due to the hyperphagia (overating), but I don’t think she has other symptoms (as far as I can tell from the pictures).
tfukuda
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 09:40 pm: [report]
I’m no doctor, but I’m pretty sure that a disorder concerning the pituitary glad would disrupt this child’s ability to control her hunger, or response to how much food shes getting. Is there a place where people can donate money to this family so she can get the treatment she needs?
retro chic
wrote on September 3 2009 @ 10:16 pm: [report]
First she has to be tested and diagnosed – that will determine treatment and channels for funding. No doctor either, but blood and PWS genetic tests sound like easy ones to start with. She has many of the developmental, as well as, physical, symptoms and will surely die without intervention.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/001605.htm