Britain's fattest teen weighs 33st
FOOD addict Georgia Davis told last night how eating is a drug as deadly as heroin for her — and has driven her weight to a life-threatening 33 STONES at 15.
The scared schoolgirl admitted: “Doctors have told me I could drop dead at any moment.
“I can’t walk more than a few steps without getting out of breath and a few months ago I developed Type 2 diabetes. When I look in the mirror I feel sad and go to my bedroom and cry.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcZnGCL9C0[/ame]
“I know it’s partly my fault. But it’s so hard to stop eating.
“It’s like a drug. Some people choose heroin but I’ve chosen food and it’s killing me.”
Georgia, who stands at 5ft 6ins, munches her way through a calorie-busting succession of unhealthy snacks every day.
It adds up to 13,538 calories a day. The average 15-year-old girl only needs 2,000 calories a day and should weigh 9st 4lb.
Georgia, from Aberdare, South Wales, has even been banned from her school canteen for over-eating.
Worried doctors have now told her she must lose 20 stones or she could die. But the NHS has ruled that the size 38 teenager is too young for gastric band surgery, slimming pills or gym membership.
Now her only hope is the Wellspring Academy, in North Carolina, USA — a tough fitness and weight-loss boarding school for obese youngsters.
Georgia, who measures 64D-62-74, traces her battle with food back to the age of five.
She watched her musician dad Geoff die from emphysema and turned to eating for comfort.
Georgia recalled: “I was a real Daddy’s girl and miss him dreadfully. That’s when I started using food for comfort. It started with sweets and chocolate bars. By the time I was seven I was 11 stones.
“The bullying at school was really bad. I would get called ‘fatty’ and ‘tub of lard’.
“I used to go home and cry in my room. It made me turn to food. I would secretly eat cakes and slice after slice of bread.”
Georgia, originally from Gravesend, Kent, moved to Wales with her mum Lesley, 53, in 2002.
The youngster said: “I have some good friends at school who stand by me but some of the skinnier girls can be really cruel.”
Her day begins at 6am when she struggles out of bed.
She said: “I sleep on a low futon as I have to kneel before I can get to my feet. I use a walk-in shower before eating a large bowl of cereal with toast, butter and jam.
“Then I watch TV before getting into my school uniform, which I have to order from an out-size company over the internet.
“Before lunch I’ve usually had a couple of cheese sandwiches and prawn cocktail crisps.”
Georgia has taken a packed lunch since she was banned from the canteen this year. She said: “I was eating sausage rolls, pasties and chips. Then a teacher said I wasn’t welcome any more.
“I still get friends to sneak things out for me though.”
Georgia stopped attempting to join in PE lessons a year ago.
When not at school she watches TV while snacking on the sofa. She said: “I eat sandwiches, toast, peanuts, crisps and Coke.” Georgia’s size rules out many of the things teenage girls love. She tried to dance at a school disco but fell and twisted her knee.
And shopping for fashionable clothes is definitely out.
She said: “I have to buy all my clothes off the internet and they aren’t very fashionable.”
Georgia’s favourite pastime is adopting a “cyber” alternative identity on Second Life-style websites.
She said: “You can be who you want to be. No one judges you on what you look like. On the internet I’m married and living in a little house with two children.
“I would love that to be the real me one day.”
Georgia will fly out to the US Wellspring camp on September 1.
She will spend up to six months there achieving an initial 20 stones and will be taught how to shed the remaining weight back home.
Georgia said: “Last Christmas I spent the entire holiday eating everything in sight. This Christmas I hope to be eating salad.” Georgia’s mum Lesley also struggles with a weight problem. She was 31 stones but has slimmed to 20 stones. And she feels she is to blame for Georgia’s weight gain.
Fighting back tears, she explained: “As a baby, Georgia wouldn’t keep down normal milk so I gave her condensed milk.
“She’d spit out baby food, so I gave her things like tinned potatoes. We didn’t have much money so it was a case of filling up with food we could afford. Georgia was around four when I realised she ate more than other children. One Easter she munched her way through seven large eggs.
“Then when her dad died we would comfort eat together.”
Lesley now lives in fear of her daughter dying. She added: “Sometimes Georgia’s left leg gives way and she crashes to the bottom of the stairs. It’s very scary. But to me she will always be beautiful.”
A quarter of British boys and a third of girls are overweight. Teenage girls form the majority of the one million obese under-16s.
Wellspring Academies operate nine “fat camps”, including one in the Lake District in the UK.
Each child follows a diet of 1,200 calories and must take at least 10,000 steps a day. Counsellors help change attitudes to food.
Dr David Haslam, a GP and clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said: “Georgia’s case is unique. It’s very sad. It’s important to do something to save her life.”
The scared schoolgirl admitted: “Doctors have told me I could drop dead at any moment.
“I can’t walk more than a few steps without getting out of breath and a few months ago I developed Type 2 diabetes. When I look in the mirror I feel sad and go to my bedroom and cry.
[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DpcZnGCL9C0[/ame]
“I know it’s partly my fault. But it’s so hard to stop eating.
“It’s like a drug. Some people choose heroin but I’ve chosen food and it’s killing me.”
Georgia, who stands at 5ft 6ins, munches her way through a calorie-busting succession of unhealthy snacks every day.
It adds up to 13,538 calories a day. The average 15-year-old girl only needs 2,000 calories a day and should weigh 9st 4lb.
Georgia, from Aberdare, South Wales, has even been banned from her school canteen for over-eating.
Worried doctors have now told her she must lose 20 stones or she could die. But the NHS has ruled that the size 38 teenager is too young for gastric band surgery, slimming pills or gym membership.
Now her only hope is the Wellspring Academy, in North Carolina, USA — a tough fitness and weight-loss boarding school for obese youngsters.
Georgia, who measures 64D-62-74, traces her battle with food back to the age of five.
She watched her musician dad Geoff die from emphysema and turned to eating for comfort.
Georgia recalled: “I was a real Daddy’s girl and miss him dreadfully. That’s when I started using food for comfort. It started with sweets and chocolate bars. By the time I was seven I was 11 stones.
“The bullying at school was really bad. I would get called ‘fatty’ and ‘tub of lard’.
“I used to go home and cry in my room. It made me turn to food. I would secretly eat cakes and slice after slice of bread.”
Georgia, originally from Gravesend, Kent, moved to Wales with her mum Lesley, 53, in 2002.
The youngster said: “I have some good friends at school who stand by me but some of the skinnier girls can be really cruel.”
Her day begins at 6am when she struggles out of bed.
She said: “I sleep on a low futon as I have to kneel before I can get to my feet. I use a walk-in shower before eating a large bowl of cereal with toast, butter and jam.
“Then I watch TV before getting into my school uniform, which I have to order from an out-size company over the internet.
“Before lunch I’ve usually had a couple of cheese sandwiches and prawn cocktail crisps.”
Georgia has taken a packed lunch since she was banned from the canteen this year. She said: “I was eating sausage rolls, pasties and chips. Then a teacher said I wasn’t welcome any more.
“I still get friends to sneak things out for me though.”
Georgia stopped attempting to join in PE lessons a year ago.
When not at school she watches TV while snacking on the sofa. She said: “I eat sandwiches, toast, peanuts, crisps and Coke.” Georgia’s size rules out many of the things teenage girls love. She tried to dance at a school disco but fell and twisted her knee.
And shopping for fashionable clothes is definitely out.
She said: “I have to buy all my clothes off the internet and they aren’t very fashionable.”
Georgia’s favourite pastime is adopting a “cyber” alternative identity on Second Life-style websites.
She said: “You can be who you want to be. No one judges you on what you look like. On the internet I’m married and living in a little house with two children.
“I would love that to be the real me one day.”
Georgia will fly out to the US Wellspring camp on September 1.
She will spend up to six months there achieving an initial 20 stones and will be taught how to shed the remaining weight back home.
Georgia said: “Last Christmas I spent the entire holiday eating everything in sight. This Christmas I hope to be eating salad.” Georgia’s mum Lesley also struggles with a weight problem. She was 31 stones but has slimmed to 20 stones. And she feels she is to blame for Georgia’s weight gain.
Fighting back tears, she explained: “As a baby, Georgia wouldn’t keep down normal milk so I gave her condensed milk.
“She’d spit out baby food, so I gave her things like tinned potatoes. We didn’t have much money so it was a case of filling up with food we could afford. Georgia was around four when I realised she ate more than other children. One Easter she munched her way through seven large eggs.
“Then when her dad died we would comfort eat together.”
Lesley now lives in fear of her daughter dying. She added: “Sometimes Georgia’s left leg gives way and she crashes to the bottom of the stairs. It’s very scary. But to me she will always be beautiful.”
A quarter of British boys and a third of girls are overweight. Teenage girls form the majority of the one million obese under-16s.
Wellspring Academies operate nine “fat camps”, including one in the Lake District in the UK.
Each child follows a diet of 1,200 calories and must take at least 10,000 steps a day. Counsellors help change attitudes to food.
Dr David Haslam, a GP and clinical director of the National Obesity Forum, said: “Georgia’s case is unique. It’s very sad. It’s important to do something to save her life.”
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