Mother Worries About Large Toddler

BLOOMINGBURG, N.Y. — To call Zack Strenkert a big kid is an understatement. He looks like a miniature sumo wrestler, a puffy pink cumulus cloud of flesh.

At 17 months old, Zack weighs nearly 68 pounds, as much as an 8- or 9-year-old. He’s 3 feet tall and nearly as big around. His T-shirts are size 14. His ankles won’t fit into shoes, so he goes barefoot. On hot days, he wears nothing but a diaper--adult size.

“There are a lot of chubby kids around,” said Dr. Mary Horlick, a pediatric endocrinologist in New York City. “But he’s quite unusual.”

Zack’s regular pediatrician said the boy just needed to diet. Fearing her son had a rare disease instead, Laurie Strenkert took Zack to Horlick, a specialist. But so far, there’s no evidence of a glandular disorder.

Zack is something of a celebrity in this rural town of about 300, situated 60 miles north of New York City. When she struggles to lift Zack into a shopping cart, Strenkert said, folks stop and stare.

“People say he looks like Andre the Giant’s baby,” she said with a laugh. “He’s like a big teddy bear.”

Strenkert, 29, took Zack’s story to the Times Herald Record in nearby Middletown in hopes of attracting the attention of a specialist. She also made a plea for special baby equipment, since Zack was too big for any car seat and had outgrown his twin stroller.

“I was nervous about doing it. People don’t accept overweight people very well,” she said at the small house where she lives with her husband and three children. Zack, a cheerful boy with wispy blond ringlets, flung cushions off the furniture as she spoke.

“I was amazed at the response. People have been wonderful, warm, nice. They’ve donated diapers and a special restraint harness for the car, and a big carriage.”

Being big runs in the family. Strenkert is 5-feet-10 and 220 pounds; her husband, Chris, is 6-foot-3 and weighs 265. Her 7-year-old son, Andrew, weighs 121 pounds, twice the normal size. Only 4-year-old Summer is slender.

Zack weighed 10 pounds, 12 ounces, when he was born by caesarean section. When he was 8 months old, he had grown so big that Strenkert asked his pediatrician to take X-rays and conduct blood tests to see if something was wrong.

Tests for thyroid problems, diabetes and other disorders all were negative. The diagnosis: morbid obesity. The doctor recommended a diet.

“He’s never been a big eater,” Strenkert said. “He’ll have a quarter-cup of cereal for breakfast, crackers for a snack, a half a sandwich for lunch.”

Strenkert felt her son’s case wasn’t investigated thoroughly, but she couldn’t afford more extensive testing. She said her husband’s employer offers no insurance and the family made too much to qualify for Medicaid.

After Zack’s case was publicized, Horlick, at Babies Hospital of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center, agreed to examine Zack at no charge and ordered a broad range of tests. A hospital agreed to do an MRI for free.

But an examination and preliminary blood analyses found no evidence of disease.

In the meantime, doctors are trying to control Zack’s weight by the usual means: less food, more exercise.

Horlick also sent blood samples to colleagues at Rockefeller University, who are doing a long-range study of the genetics of obesity.

Zack’s weight gain has slowed in recent months. He has become more active and recently started walking. Doctors hope he will grow into his weight as he gets taller.

“We may never find out why he’s so big,” Strenkert said. “I just want to know he’s all right, he’s healthy. I love him just the way he is.”