Meet The 10-Month-Old Who Is 41 Lbs And Still Growing

A 10-month-old baby in India has weighed in at an astonishing 41 pounds - the weight of an average six-year-old girl. Aliya Saleem, whose parents live in a remote village in the Indian state of Jharkhand, was born at a relatively large 9lbs, but started rapidly piling on the pounds once she hit the four month mark.

Her enormous weight has put her life in danger and placed a huge strain on the already limited finances of her parents, dad Mohammad Saleem and mum Shabana Parveen, who are struggling to cover the costs of her daily food intake and the regular need for new clothes. The family has until now been unable to afford to take her to a hospital, but were able to get a consultation at Fortis Hospital to see a specialist in a bid to get to the bottom of Aliya's condition.

Dr Krishan Chugh, head of paediatrics at Fortis Hospital, said: "This is the heaviest baby at 10 months of age that I have seen. I have seen 10kg-plus, 12kg-plus babies in the past. But this is way above the rest. Over 18 kilograms is an extreme weight figure." According to the WHO, the average weight of a 10-month-old baby is 18.7 pounds, which is less than half Aliya’s weight! Dr. Chugh speculates that this could be the case of morbid obesity or even a hormonal imbalance, but to be sure they had to make tests on the girl.

Despite being less than a year old, Aliya consumes three times more food than an average child her age. Her mother, who spends her time at home between chores and looking after her daughter, says taking care of the girl has become increasingly difficult. "She keeps crying throughout the day. She wakes up at night abruptly and also she cannot breathe properly."

The parents have a five-year-old son who is normal weight. But their older daughter died at just one and a half years, after suffering in a similar fashion to Aliya.