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What!!! How does that happen??? What are they feeding him that he got morbidly obese?? This is depressing.

I don't know if it's abuse... but maybe neglect? It's not right, whatever it is.

This is so disturbing. The parents should be held responsible. Gastric bypass for a 2 year old?!

This is awful!

I'm puzzled how they found doctors to actually go through the surgery. Surely a team was involved. Why didn't anyone stop it?

I definitely think that obesity of these levels in children is child abuse. It isn't just about a kid being "fat"; it's setting them up for a lifetime of obesity-related health issues.

So sad, poor child.

@yoursilverlining: Completely agree; this is child abuse.

My nephew is a big kid (nowhere *near* this level of obesity), and was just diagnosed with sleep apnea. My SIL is terrified and the entire family is doing a major overhaul of their kitchen and changing their eating habits (it was a matter of making convenient, yet unhealthy choices). I'm really passionate about food, and eating well. Feeding your child mammoth portions of absolute junk is unacceptable, in my opinion.

I don't understand how you can overfeed a toddler to THAT extent though. Toddlers are stubborn little creatures and if they don't want to eat it's really hard to force them! Did they literally give him nothing but lard and sweets? It's hard to believe. I feel like there must be some underlying medical condition to begin with... but yes I agree the parents were being irresponsible with not following through with the prescribed dietary regimen.

Omgosh! The surgery must has been the very last resort. A friend of mine had one of those surgeries and her doctor required her to see a therapist first to grasp how life altering this would be. A toddler wouldn't understand that. How awful.

I don't even understand how a baby can gain that much weight?? There HAS to be problems besides diet? So odd.

So strange that he could weigh that much at such a young age... when I can barely get my toddler to eat anything! So sad...

This is so sad. GB has a high rate already of people "falling off the wagon" because your stomach can re-stretch if you don't continue with the strict dietary guidelines. It changes SO MUCH and I think that whatever doctor performed it needs to be investigated. You need to be able to comprehend the dietary changes and lifestyle changes necessary before consenting to such a surgery. And then the stuff that you just can't change after... like you can't take pills anymore. Have to take liquid meds. Can't drink at meals. Etc etc. I just cannot imagine that a CHILD (or even most adolescents) could understand the scope of the surgery.

I find this really sad, especially since the parents are still not keeping up with his diet post-surgery .

In regards to everyone who is curious about how any toddler could get this enormous did you ever watch the Maury show of the distant past? Before obesity was an "epidemic" he used to have shows all the time with older babies and toddlers that were this big or larger because of overfeeding . This is sadly not a new phenomenon.

@mrbee: the doctor or the parents what?

I think the doctor definitely needs to be investigated. I think the parents obviously have issues but I think it's a medical professional's job to say "this is not a surgery that should be performed." The parents have a responsibility to keep the child on their diet(s) until that child is old enough to make those type of decisions and understand the pros and cons. I have a close friend who had GB and I know how much went into the surgery BEFORE it even happened- including therapy! I don' tknow how that could be required for an adult, but the surgery could be done on a child who couldn't possibly understand? Just makes no professional sense to me. I'd NEVER see a doctor again if I heard they did somethign like this.

@kjpugs: I don't think we have enough facts to judge this medical decision? At least, I don't feel like I do.

However, ultimately the buck stops with the parents. They have twice now let their decisions compromise the health of their child... I would hold them accountable first. And then if the doctor didn't do the sufficient due diligence on the family (or if he somehow coerced them into agreeing to something that they didn't want), he should be held accountable. But ultimately I feel like parents are the ultimate decision-makers for their children and are generally capable of giving consent when the health and life of their child is at risk.

@kjpugs: I think there are some standards around parental neglect? Although I'm not that familiar with them, as my knowledge here is based on Law & Order episodes.