Colombia’s fattest baby Santiago Mendoza ‘rescued’ from family by Chubby Hearts charity

A GROSSLY obese infant has been ‘rescued’ from his family after his mum admitted to feeding him every time he cried.

EIGHT-MONTH-OLD Santiago Mendoza might look like a happy, cuddly little tot but the reality is that he is very sick.

Santiago, who weighs 19.7kg — the equivalent of a six-year-old child — has been ‘rescued’ from his family by Colombian health charity Chubby Hearts.

Salvador Palacio Gonzalez said doctors will attempt to reduce Santiago’s weight. Picture: Barcroft Media/Splash News

Volunteers from the foundation spirited the grossly obese infant away from his home in the north east city of Valledupar to a hospital in Bogota for urgent medical treatment.

The intervention came after his mother Eunice Fandino wrote to Chubby Hearts for help after Santiago became too heavy to take outside.

Eight-month-old Santiago Mendoza sits at a clinic in Bogota, Colombia. Picture: AP Photo/Fernando Vergara

Eunice Fandino wrote to health foundation Chubby Hearts for help after Santiago became too heavy to take outside. Picture: Barcroft Media/Splash News

Ms Fandino blamed her own ‘‘ignorance’’ for Santiago’s weight gain and admitted she fed him every time he cried.

“He was born with an anxiety, so if he cried I just fed him,” she told local media.

Santiago’s weight has landed him in hospital on several occasions in the past. He is now being assessed by specialists.

Santiago with Salvador Palacio Gonzalez en route to a Bogota hospital. Picture: Barcroft Media/Splash News

Santiago’s mother, Eunice Fandino, admitted she fed the toddler “every time he cried” and believed he had been born with an anxiety that could only be quelled by food. Picture: Barcroft Media/Splash

Chubby Hearts foundation director Salvador Palacio Gonzalez said doctors will attempt to reduce his weight to a manageable level before carrying out a series of operations.

“Otherwise, in the future, he could suffer from diabetes, high blood pressure and severe problems with his joints,” Mr Gonzalez said.

It was not clear whether treatment would include gastric band surgery.

Bogota surgeon Cesar Ernesto Guevar told El Espectador: “Likely, what he will need is a long-term treatment, education, healthy food, and when he is older, physical activity.”