The Gujarat government has come to the rescue of three morbidly obese kids of a daily wage labourer from Vanjdi village of Una taluka in Gujarat's Gir Somnath district. "Gujarat Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has directed the district administration to provide medical help to Ramesh Nanwan's three obese kids. Accordingly, the district administration provided Below Poverty Line and Mamta card to the family so that the kids can be treated for obesity," Gir Somnath district Resident Additional Collector Kalpana Trivedi said. The three children were taken to the Ahmedabad Civil Hospital and the medical expenses would be borne by the state government, Trivedi said. Earlier, Nanwan offered to sell his kidney to feed his children.
Five-year-old Yogita (33kg), three-year-old Amisha (47 kg) and one-year-old Harsh (17 kg) were treated for obesity, but the cost of medicines were beyond their reach, due to which they were discharged from Ahmedabad Civil Hospital, said Nanwan, who works as a daily wage labourer.
"They were earlier admitted into the Civil Hospital, but I had to get them discharged since I could not bear their medical expenses. I am a daily wager, who earns livelihood by working in farms. We hardly earn three to four thousand rupees a month and a huge part of our income was spent feeding my three children," Nanwan said.
"I have four kids and my elder daughter Bhavika (eight years) does not suffer from obesity. The weight of three of my other kids started increasing, three to four months after their birth, which resulted in extreme obesity," Nanwan said.
Such is their state that the children face difficulty in sitting, eating and moving around. Their mother Pragna often spends the entire day in the kitchen cooking to satiate the hunger of her overweight kids while Rameshbhai works hard to earn the daily bread. “My day starts with making 30 chapatis and a kilo of vegetable curry in the morning. After that I am again in the kitchen preparing more food,” their mother said. She added, “Their hunger never stops. They demand food all the time and cry and scream if they’re not fed. I am always in the kitchen cooking for them. Little Harsh is breastfeeding and guzzles over two litres extra milk.” The children hit headlines when it was reported in newspapers that the poor parents are working two shifts and selling off whatever valuables they have to feed their children.
Dr Charul Purani, Assistant professor of paediatrics department in the Civil Hospital, said the children were being evaluated along with paediatric endocrinologist Dr Ruchi Shah. “We have ordered complete check-up of the children including liver, kidney, heart, brain tests along with hormonal tests to know the exact cause of the problem. Interestingly, the eldest sister of the children is normal. Primary clinical evaluation has not thrown up any single cause responsible for such morbid obesity in these kids. It could be hormonal, syndromic or a mix. We will be able to make a diagnosis once all test reports arrive,” said Dr Purani.
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