World’s Heaviest Teen Weighing 237 KG, Undergoes Weight-Loss Surgery

The normal BMI (Body Mass Index) is 22.5 KG/m2. A BMI above 40, 50 and 60 is categorized as morbid obesity, super obesity and super-super obesity. What would a teenager known with BMI of 92?

Mihir Jain weighed 2.5 kg at birth in 2003. He first showed signs of obesity at age of 5, weighing 60-70 KG. Mihir’s family has history of obesity, but boy consume lot of junk food.

At the age of 14, Mihir Jain – a Delhi boy, weighed 237 KG with 92 BMI. His staggering weight affected his ability to walk or breathe properly and he had to undergo bariatric bypass surgery.

“Mihir came to me in a wheelchair in December 2017, weighing approx. 240 KG. He could barely stand and has all the extreme signs of obesity. I wasn’t confident on operating him successfully. He was too heavy”, said Dr. Pardeep Chowbey, director of bariatric surgery at Max Hospital, Saket.

The boy was put on very low-calorie diet (VLCD) initially, which gave only about 800 calories. The doctor said he thought Mihir will not able to follow such a restrictive diet. “I was surprised to see Mihir again after four weeks; he had lost 10 KG. I suggested him to continue the same diet for another two months which will reduce the weight to 196 KG. But we realized that for further weight lose, surgery will be required”, Dr. Chowbey said.

The biggest challenge in operating obese person is in administering anesthesia. This happens due to the presence of fat in tongue, neck and throat which restricts space to put tube into the lungs. For this, doctors had to use special equipment –flexible laryngoscope.

Surgical manoeuvring inside patient’s body was another difficulty. There were 10-12 inches of fat beneath patient’s muscles. Normal instruments aren’t that long so doctors used longer instruments to reach the target area. The procedure lasted for two-and-a-half hours in which doctors restrict the amount of food intake and less absorption of calories.