Rise in Weight-Loss Surgery Among Children

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As weight-loss surgeries have increased in popularity among obese adults, more and more doctors believe it could be a solution for over-weight children as well.

For the last couple of decades, only a tiny percent of children actually underwent weight-loss surgery procedures because of the high risk of such operations and the mortality rate of 1 in 50. According to federal statistics, only 350 kids in the United States underwent obesity surgery in 2004.

However, new improvements in the weight-loss surgical technique and the rise in the number of dangerously obese kids have resulted in a change of heart.

Large-Scale Study in Children

A group of hospitals will conduct a large-scale study to analyze how young children and adolescents respond to different types of weight-loss surgery procedures including bariatric surgery and gastric bypass where an elastic band implanted around the stomach limits food intake.

While the Food and Drug Administration is hesitant to approve the gastric band for kids, researchers at New York University Medical Center reported this month that the device is promising. In a study involving 53 girls and boys between 13 and 17, participants dropped almost half their extra weight over a period of 18 months, and suffered few complication.

Similar studies are being conducted at the Morgan Stanley Children's Hospital of New York-Presbyterian, which just opened an obesity surgery unit for teenagers where 50 operations are expected to be performed this year.

These studies are following the soaring rise in the popularity of weight-loss surgeries among obese adults. According to the American Society for Bariatric Surgery, over 177,000 Americans underwent weight-loss surgery in 2005—an increase from 47,000 in 2001.

Concerns About Child Weight-Loss Surgery

Many doctors are skeptical about performing such surgeries on children because they know so little about the possible long term effects. Others believe the risks are minor when compared to the cardiovascular disease and/or chronic diabetes teens would develop if they stayed overweight through adulthood.

According to Thomas Wadden, an expert on obesity at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, the benefits of weight-loss surgery outweigh the risks, especially in children who already have health problems.


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