What viral ‘70lb’ baby looks like now 29-years after appearing on Jerry Springer show
OG fans of The Jerry Springer Show will no doubt remember that one baby who seemed to weigh more than some adults.
Yep, we're talking about Zach Strenkert, a toddler who made headlines back in 1996 for supposedly weighing 70lbs at around 17 months old.
“He’s not a big eater. That’s one of the most frequently asked questions,” Strenkert’s mother, Laurie, told the late TV judge who died in 2023 and hosted The Jerry Springer Show for 27 years, between 1991 and 2018.
“And that is also why we’re so concerned. Where is the growing coming from?”
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His size wasn't down to overeating or anything like that - it was actually tied to Simpson-Golabi-Behmel Syndrome (SGBS).
According to the National Organisation for Rare Diseases (NORD), the genetic condition can cause unusually rapid growth.
"This can be seen in overgrowth before birth, where the unborn baby is unusually large, and in overgrowth after birth, where a baby is unusually large," NORD says.
"Other physical features that are commonly seen in individuals with SGBS are specific facial features like large forehead, nose, lips, and tongue."
And so his appearance on Springer and later on shows like Oprah was meant to raise awareness of the condition, not to make him a viral 'circus act'.
Obviously, Zach isn’t a toddler anymore. Aged between 29 and 30 years old, he's now living life outside of the spotlight.
"They presented me as different, which only separated me further from everyone else," Zach told The Mirror in January. "I was known as the kid that was on TV.
"Nowadays, people ask me what it was like. They assume my mom was chasing fame or money, but that wasn’t the case," he continued to say.
"We just wanted help with geneticists, which wasn’t easy to come by with our insurance."
On his family wanting to raise awareness, he added: "We didn’t really get a lot of take-home pay after all the affairs were done. It was strictly to make sure that her kid was okay."
Addressing Netflix's documentary about Springer, titled Jerry Springer: Fights, Camera Action, Zach said: "It's just a spin on what’s already out there.
"It didn’t reveal anything new. It’s the same content, just packaged with bells and whistles."
Zach, who weighed 485lbs at his heaviest, said at the time that he was focused on his health, fitness and on 'pushing through, no matter what the pain is'.
Anish Vij