A 32-year-old Mexican whose weight has soared to more than 78st (1,102lbs) after spending six years confined to his bed is to start what he hopes will be life-saving treatment at a hospital which specialises in surgical solutions to obesity.

Juan Pedro, who is billed in Mexico as the world’s fattest man, said that until this week he has been living at home with his mother with no medical care and insufficient resources to buy the right kind of food and medicines to keep his weight down.

“I never knew what was happening to me,” Mr Pedro, from Aguascalientes, said in a press statement.