Baby born premature put on a 3,000 calorie diet

Agatha must plough through at least 3,000 calories a day – 500 more than the NHS recommends for men – after she was born three months prematurely weighing just 3lb 11oz.

At the age of 16 months, she still weighs only 17lb and has been advised by a paediatric dietician to eat the three full meals a day as well as fatty snacks.

 Her diet typically includes porridge with clotted cream for breakfast and toast laden with chocolate spread, followed by midmorning snacks such as avocado and hummus.

Lunch usually consists of high fat roasted meats such as duck, lamb or pork, mashed potatoes with added cream, roasted vegetables in olive oil, and chocolate desserts and bananas.

The toddler has bagels spread in full fat cheese and chocolate fingers to keep her going through the afternoon.

She then eats tuna, mash with butter and baked beans followed by rice pudding and clotted cream in the evening, followed by a bed time snack of porridge with clotted cream and custard.

Agatha weighed 3lb 11oz when she was born on New Year's Eve 2007 at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London.

She suffered heart failure and doctors fought for 90 minutes to resuscitate her and help her breathe on a ventilator.

Agatha, who was not breathing when she was delivered, suffered heart failure, a brain haemorrhage and chronic lung disease. She also had an open heart duct, life threateningly high blood pressure and an immature gut.

It took a medical team at St George's Hospital, south London, 90 minutes to resuscitate her and put her onto a life support machine. The little girl was in hospital for over 100 days but against all odds, she survived.

After 14 weeks Agatha went home - feeding via a tube and dependant on oxygen. But she is now approaching a healthy weight, assisted by calorie-rich diet and freshly prepared meals containing a lot of protein. Dieticians have told her parents there will be no long term effects from Agatha's diet.