World's heaviest teen weighing 237kg undergoes gastric bypass, loses 10 stones weight

New Delhi, July 3: The world's fattest child, who weighed more than 37 stone (523lbs/237kg) has begun his road to recovery after undergoing gastric bypass surgery. Mihir Jain, 14, from Delhi, has lost over ten stone since his surgery in April, and is now 27 stone (379lbs/172kg), and able to walk unaided for the first time in years.

Mihir had a normal weight of 2.5kg when he was born in November 2013. But he gradually started gaining weight. By the time Mihir was five, he weighed 60-70kg, his mother Puja Jain said.

According to the NHS, your Body Mass Index (BMI) should sit somewhere between 18.5 and 24.9. Anything over that, and you're overweight.

The family had first sought medical help in 2010. But doctors at that said the boy was too young to undergo surgery.

In December 2017, Mihir finally made it to the Max hospital in Saket, Delhi. His body mass index (BMI) then was 92 kg/m2, normal value is 22.5.

In the beginning, the doctors couldn't operate on Mihir with this weight, so they put him on a very low-calorie diet (VLCD) for three months. Though Dr Chowbey, the chief of bariatric surgery at Max Hospital assumed Mihir wouldn't return, he did and was 10kg lighter.

Further, Mihir reduced his weight to 196kg, and the doctors operated him in the month of April. But before the surgery, Mihir's high blood pressure posed a problem.

Another challenge doctors faced was anesthesia. "There's no guideline on the anesthesia dosage for a person weighing 200kg," Dr Chowbey said.

The surgery, that was performed almost three months ago, lasted two-and-a-half hours, but it wasn't smooth. The presence of 10-12 inches of fat beneath Mihir's muscles made the doctor's path difficult.

A gastric pass was created that ensured the digestive system was re-routed past stomach. This helps the person feel full even on less food.

Mihir's currently weighs around 177 kg. According to Dr Chowbey, Mihir visits the hospital for follow-ups and has been asked to follow a restrictive diet.