Nearly eight years ago, 10-year-old Arya Permana carried a weight most adults never will: 190 kg. What happened next turned his story into one people still talk about today.
Arya’s case made headlines around the globe when he was recognized as the heaviest child on record, a result of overeating and very little physical activity. The extreme weight gain at such a young age alarmed doctors and worried his family deeply.
Determined to help him, Arya’s parents brought him to a physician, who put him on a strict rice-and-vegetable diet. But sticking to it proved difficult for the young boy, so his family made the difficult decision to move forward with stomach-reduction surgery.
That decision changed everything. In the months that followed, Arya committed himself to clean eating and regular exercise, and the results spoke for themselves — he ended up shedding half his original body weight, working toward a goal of 63 kg.
His parents had also been raising money at the time for a follow-up procedure to remove the excess skin left behind from his dramatic transformation.
And through it all, young Arya hadn’t lost sight of his dream: to grow up and become a professional football player.
