A Daunting Operation Offers Relief to Obese Teenagers

Obese people don't eat enough of the things they need: vitamins, mineral, iron and calcium. The fatty sugary things they DO eat don't provide these things so their bodies, while overfed, are literally starving. And a starving body sends the only signal it can: hunger.

Obesity certainly is a chronic disease. It's origin is the corporate food industry that poisons our children. Class action suits that bankrupt Nabisco, Nestles, PepsiCo et al are the necessary surgical procedures.

Where exactly were these worried parents, so concerned about the negative ramifications of the surgery, when their kids were piling on the weight that made the surgery their only means of escape from a lifetime of obesity? Assuming they aren't already, they should be ashamed.

"Bariatric" surgery, like "automimmune" treatment is big business. Each is easier to treat without medical treatment. Modifying the source of each eliminates the problem. But there is little to no money in it, and few are willing to admit it's simplicity. Eat plants, drink water avoid doctors - they don't tell you this because they don't know and it's not in their interest$.

We would never think twice to offer an organ transplant to a teenager. It’s life extending but requires extreme discipline and adherence to medications. How is this different from life saving/extending bariatric surgery?

Of the three persons I know or were close to my family circle who undertook this, one died in the operating table, and the second had to have the surgery reversed after many complications --and her weight climbed and exceeded where it was... Though yes, it changes the game for bariatric surgeons. All that business!!!

I feel a little uncomfortable at the thought of a 12 year old getting this Surgery. But someone 16 to 18, medically cleared for the procedure AND suffering from the usually middle-aged ailments correlated with Obesity : Yes. In some cases, that may be their only chance to gain a “ normal “ lifespan. And that’s without even considering the psychological and social benefits Of major weight loss. I haven’t had the Surgery. But I have been 20 to 40 lbs. overweight for most of my adult life. Yo-yo dieting, the only thing that works, for awhile, is near starvation. And for those that think getting the Surgery is a cop-out, or “ cheating “, so what ??? Sometimes, it’s the only thing that WILL work. And literally lifesaving.

If there was an operation to cure Schizophrenia, but the mental condition was guaranteed to come back within three years, would it be worth it? Maybe so, maybe no. For regular garden-variety obesity, however, there IS a cure. Surgery is not necessary. All it takes is to recognize that obesity results from abnormal eating patterns- simple maladaptive learned behavior. Hunger is NOT your body telling you it needs food for fuel. It is a psychological construct triggered, yes, by an empty stomach and a low-normal serum glucose level, but extensive modified by every areas of the brain including the emotional ones. As complicated as that sounds, there is a simple solution. The overweight person must commit to water-fasting for the first part of the day in order to get used to an empty stomach. Over time- days, months, years- the brain re-wires. The stomach shrinks. Weight is lost- slowly but surely. Hagan did a clinical pilot study on the simple approach in his "Breakfast" book. It needs to be replicated by rigorous studies, of course, but the concept is a "common sense." Surgery is not needed. Discipline (with a knowledge of basic physiology) is.

Obesity is obviously thr number one eating disorder in this country, but you rarely hear it described as such. Gastric bypass surgery actually effectively debunks many of the myths that are currently popular in the media, such as "many people do not lose weight when on calorie restricted diets". It is more accurate to say many people cannot or will not actually stick to calorie restricted diets, and that behavioral issue is the actual problem. But many people really don't want to hear that. But it's true. Every living person has a basal metabolic rate that requires energy to sustain metabolic function; that's true even for a completely immobilised (e.g., bed bound) person. That basal metabolic rate works out to be the energy equivalent to about a half pound of body fat per day. So that's the rate you burn fat consuming no calories and doing no exercise. The laws of hermodynamics applies to everyone. Sufficiently restrict the calories going in, you *will* inevitably be forced to burn fat reserves to produce glucose as cellular fuel. That's what gastric bypass enforces.

There is sugar in everything, under many names. Sugar in bread, cereals, drinks and so on. Anyone see what lunch kids are served at school? Full of processed carbs. Foods have Healthy or Nature in their names and you read the ingredient list and a lot of unpronounceable chemicals and sugars come up. Very few children were obese in the 50’s. There was little access to these types of processed foods for most people. No fast food restaurants. Rare to even go to a restaurant. Few school buses. Channel changer had not been invented and I knew many people with no TV. TV programming was intermittent. Of course no computers or video games. Now kids ride a bus, eat a processed food breakfast and lunch, ride home on the bus and spend time in a chair looking at a screen. In our busy lives getting any dinner on the table, much less one with fresh vegetables, high quality meat is very difficult for these working moms and dads. Of course they are getting heavier and heavier, just like adults. Less activity and more processed carbs and added sugars coupled with less exercise makes some kids heavier and some obese. Processed carbs are the cigarettes of the day. Heavily advertised, easily accessible and deadly.

Why don’t we simply teach their parents about healthy food? Wouldn’t it be cheaper to buy them each a gym membership?

This article breaks my heart & fills me with both frustration & despair. I do not know enough about gastric bypass surgery to comment on its value although having been obese for 40 years I understand something of the suffering and desperation experienced by many people who are overweight. What upsets me most & what really jumps out at me after reading this article - and I note some other Comments remark on this - is: we are talking about kids here, 13 - 19 year old youth at the beginning of life. Yet the article states "...the new study included adolescents with B.M.Is of 35, most were much heavier. The average was 50" and (even after the surgery) " Some remained saddled with high blood pressure and diabetes." Children with BMIs of 50??? 50!!! And already suffering from hypertension & diabetes. What in the world is going on in this country?

Insurance will pay for this surgery, but won’t pay for my hearing aids because they are a lifestyle enhancement. I’m not sure why this surgery isn’t the same. Plus, what’s the success rate for adults after such surgery? Low, I bet.

The consequence of reducing the size of the stomach is less total food intake. It is simply a matter of thermodynamics, no matter what current trendy foods are suggested. Surely it is possible to ration food in such a way as to take in less than is used . Author says that with BMI 30 and above it is impossible to lose weight . Why ? eat less, weigh less ! (More physical activity increases rate of weight loss)

I lost 100 Lbs very slowly over several years. I am 5’5” and weighed 248. I was able out 55 and I had never had any luck losing weight, but I decided to just eat less and not tell anyone I was working on it. Slowly it came odd, and now when I run into people I haven’t seen in a long time they think I have had the surgery. People sometimes refuse to accept my drivers license as ID. It has been a very happy change for me because I can wear much smaller clothes. The first time I saw a photo I had not known to be taken from the back I was puzzled about who it was. Now I just continue to try to eat better and generally avoid some stuff that isn’t good for ME, and weigh myself occasionally. I hope everyone overweight can find ways to lose weight in healthy, affirming ways, as it does wonders for you in many ways.

There was a recent story, perhaps in US Today, where a high school boy in Canton, Ohio lost 135 pounds by walking 20 minutes to and from school every day and watching his diet. These teenagers don't need obesity surgery. They need to consciously watch their diet and commit to an exercise regimen. Most of all, they need to be honest with themselves, and accept that they alone are responsible for their weight. The problem is food addiction, and they need to face the addiction. Twelve step programs are an excellent way to start.

Nowhere in this article does it state that these children were evaluated by an endocrinologist prior to this major, risky (and, I might add, profitable) surgery. As an adult, I had obesity caused by Cushing's disease, a disorder of the pituitary gland. Had I not been correctly diagnosed by an endocrinologist and treated by a pituitary specialist neurosurgeon, but had bariatric surgery instead, I would probably not be alive to write this comment. No one, regardless of age, should undergo bariatric surgery without a comprehensive evaluation by an endocrinologist.

When your child is obese the blame is solely on the parents . I constantly see children guzzling sodas and Cheetos for breakfast and the parents paying with food stamp card . This is insane

If Eric Decker was 17 in 2006 how is it that he is 33 now? (17 13 usually = 30)

A significant and growing portion of our population has figured out what a minority group of vocal MDs are finally telling us. We have caused this epidemic of obesity and all the associated diseases by recommending a high-carb diet for several decades. That original food pyramid with all the carbs at the bottom was deadly. This is all reversible if you go back to eating they way our bodies are meant to be fueled and realize that hormones, not calories, are the basic problem. The body has hormone receptors, not calorie receptors. We have been duped by unsupported dietary recommendations all these years. My husband and I are FINALLY getting our blood pressure down (in addition to dropping the extra weight) by following recommendations of the docs who are going direct to the public with recommendations that actually work. Start with a few of these: Dr. Jason Fung, nephrologist in Toronto, who reverses Type 2 diabetes and obesity. Phenomenal results. Dr. Ford Brewer, who started the preventative medicine program at Johns Hopkins and reversed his own arterial age by 20 years. Dr. Annette Bosworth who treated her own mother's cancer with ketosis and fasting. All these MDs are reversing disease and obesity in short order. Through low carb, keto, and various forms of fasting. It works. Start with The Obesity Code by Jason Fung. It may save your life. I'm not compensated for this. I just changed my health by listening to these and other docs.

Wouldn't it be better (and cheaper) to hire a individual dietician/weight loss coach for each child? Surgery seems so drastic.

Something that really bothers me in the narrative from the researchers and doctors quoted here is that a large justification for having teens undergo this serious, life-altering surgery is based on social expectations and stigma by peers. That is a wholly separate issue from health concerns. We should be addressing that stigma and bias; it's as cruel and inappropriate as shaming someone for the color of their skin, and the solution is to teach ourselves and our children to be kind and not to conflate a person's worth as a human with their size, health, or looks. It's not the weight, intrinsically, that causes social stigmatization for these kids (and adults); it's our society's rotten attitude about fat people and their bodies. Saying that a fat teen needs surgery because she "is likely known by every other student in the high school not because she is a prom queen, but because she is physically the largest student in the school" is just disgusting. Guess what? LOTS of fat kids become prom kings and queens. Lots of fat kids are popular. Lots of fat kids are outgoing and happy. It's society that tells them that they don't deserve to be so. And that is just as harmful as the physical risks of obesity.

I can relate to this type of suffering. I was an obese child, teenager and adult. I was probably anorexic when I was 15 but nobody knew what that was back in 1973. I tried all the diets and probably made some up: Atkins, broccoli & egg whites, cabbage soup, grapefruit, NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, variations on calorie counting and "moderation" from 2000/day down to 500/day. It was always the same: suffer-success, suffer-success, suffer-success, until there was some trigger and it all came back. It was a yo-yo fiasco until 3 years ago. I am now 61. I am now on a "Whole-Food Plant-Based" diet and my life has turned around! Nothing but REAL food: whole grains, legumes, fruits & berries, greens, cruciferous and other veggies, nuts and seeds. It is AMAZING food & so much more nutritious than carcinogenic, saturated fat and cholesterol laden animal products, or the processed sugar, white grains and oils in the Standard American Diet (SAD). Plus, no more counting; I can eat as much as I want because it is so healthy and low-fat! PLEASE look into eating this way BEFORE you submit to such radical surgery. You will see - not only will you turn your life around, you will reduce the horrific suffering of industrially farm-raised animals and reduce the subsequent generation of greenhouse gases caused by animal feces. It's a WIN-WIN-WIN for everybody. Just google it and give it a try! Thank you and good luck!

"Fares well" needs some caveats. Gastric bypass is a very serious surgery, and the good outcomes still involve malabsorption and malnutrition issues, dumping syndrome, risk of alcoholism, and relapse. It is no cure.

Are we at the point that we are recommending a life-altering, lifelong side-effects surgery for 8 year olds for something that is caused by diet? I understand that when you have lived with so much extra weight for years it is extremely difficult to lose the weight, but if we are really saying that children are more plastic and that they have the opportunity to change before the life threatening side effects of obesity set in, why are we not pushing for more drastic, but ultimately safer solutions for child obesity? Or are we really at this dire point and I just have not noticed or experienced how this country's relationship to health has gotten so toxic that we need to cut children's' stomachs smaller for them to live a normal life?

I've had gastric bypass surgery - back when it was done open and not lapro. I want to warn anyone that's considering it: steer clear of alcohol. I strongly support the surgery - I've kept off a substantial amount of weight that was quickly trending upwards through years of yo-yo dieting. I religiously take a fistful of supplements every day and make sure to have thorough blood tests annually. I continue to focus on eating protein first, and through I've put on a few pounds, I've kept off more than I ever would have with diets alone. My reaction to high fructose corn syrup still keeps me in check. But alcohol became a serious problem for me and I'm seeing it happen to others who have also had the surgery. I honestly believe we've lost the ability to process alcohol like normal people do and it soon becomes a physical problem for us much faster than those with normal gastro processing. I started to experience anxiety that was beyond comprehension and I was physically addicted. But there is hope - I am 7 years sober now and life is better than ever, and all the anxiety is gone. If you've had the surgery and start to experience black-outs, shakes and anxiety you've never had before - stop drinking. Seek help in recovery programs.

Who’s paying for this nonsense? We can never have universal healthcare in this country at this rate.

While this sort of extreme obesity isn't common what is disturbing is how much more common its become. By that I mean that I do not recall seeing so many overweight people 30 or 40 years ago as I do now. I do think part of this is attributable to how much highly processed food we eat. I think it's also due to our "labor saving" devices. Another thing I've noticed is how silent neighborhoods have become. Years ago I used to hear children playing outside. Now I hear nothing like it. I'm glad bariatric surgery is an option for extremely obese individuals. However, it would be better if we could figure out how to prevent this sort of weight gain altogether. The continuing medical costs and follow up care can be daunting especially if a person doesn't have a steady job or good health insurance.

I would like to know: what is the cause of childhood obesity? It must have something to do with diet. So what's the point? Why do people consider diet control an insurmountable problem? I would really like to know the explanation.