At just five years old, Indian girl Suman Khatun weighs an astounding 75kg, and her doctor fears she could eat herself to death.

Khatun, from West Bengal, is constantly hungry as a result of a suspected hormonal imbalance, according to Britain's Daily Telegraph.

Her parents, who earn little more than $10 a week, say they can barely afford to feed her and their two other children.

"When she is not fed she cries, shouts, screams and has even thrown rocks at us," Khatun's mother Belly Bibi said.

Unsatisfied by her parents' offerings, Khatun turns to her wealthier neighbours for extra food such as biscuits.

The extreme eating began three months after she was born when she was drinking up to 1.5 litres of milk a day.

It forced her mother to supplement her own breast milk with cow's milk.

A local doctor, Dr PC Saha, said Khatun suffers from a malfunctioning pituitary gland but her parents cannot afford necessary medical treatment.

"I have told her parents that she will die if they do not stop feeding her or seek expert medical care," he told the Telegraph.