Gastric Bypass Surgery for kids, page 1
Pages:
ATS Members have flagged this thread 0 times
Topic started on 6-7-2004 @ 08:01 PM by aTwistofReality
Weightloss surgery isn't just for adults anymore. The Journal of Pediatrics is now recommending that surgery should be an option for obese adolescents.


In the journal Pediatrics, Dr. Thomas H. Inge and colleagues outline the consensus reached by participants at a meeting of surgeons and pediatricians specializing in the treatment of overweight and obese children. The paper makes recommendations for evaluating and selecting suitable patients for surgery, the type of surgical treatment, and long-term follow-up monitoring.


Surgery May Benefit Severely Obese Teens

Now I have no problems with anyone who elects to have the surgery themselves, but I do question having it done at such an early age. This is a major surgery we are talking about. People in good health have died from this surgery, and I know people personally that have serious complications that resulted from having the surgery.

So my question is, should children be allowed to under go such an operation as this? In my opinion no. This is too young to have your life on the line.


reply posted on 7-7-2004 @ 03:38 AM by iwouldificould
This is a drastic step and would only be used for adolescents who have tried all other ways of losing weight. There would be controlled selection and close monitoring.
The paper makes recommendations for evaluating and selecting suitable patients for surgery, the type of surgical treatment, and long-term follow-up monitoring.


It would only be undertaken in centres specially suited for this treatment. There would be strict criteria
To be considered for surgery, adolescents should be very severely obese (with a body mass index or BMI of 40 or greater), have attained a majority of skeletal maturity (13 years of age or older for girls and 15 or older for boys) and have obesity-related conditions "that might be remedied with durable weight loss,"


Having recently been in contact with someone I think would benefit from surgical intervention, I can see the value of this in extreme cases only. The whole life style of the young lady I have met (16 years old) is arranged around food. She would have no family support her to loose weight (her mother has benefited from her extra years of being able to eat to excess), she finds it difficult to engage in physical activities and seems not to realise the strain on her body of carrying so much extra weight. This young lady needs educating to a whole new lifestyle and a lot of help and support. I feel she would only succeed in losing at least some of her excess weight by being physically unable to eat so much, but would need help to choose foods of more benefit to her. Hopefully some weight loss would enable her to participate in some of the physical activities enjoyed by her peers.

I can understand other members of these boards not agreeing with the surgery. I assume that they, like me, are bringing up their children to live a different lifestyle from the girl I have described, and would intervene to prevent this from happening in their family.

The links are from the article already mentioned.
Pages:     ^^TOP^^



First Heartless Man - You Don\'t Really Need A Heart or A Pulse
  Posted 8 days ago with 51 member flags
Doctor Uses Coconut Oil to Reverse Husband\'s Alzheimer\'s Disease
  Posted 14 days ago with 28 member flags
A brief look at water fluoridation and the insanity of it
  Posted 11 days ago with 28 member flags
Brains of Addicts Are Inherently Abnormal
  Posted 8 days ago with 20 member flags
FDA say body is a drug and has the right to regulate it!
  Posted 11 days ago with 18 member flags
MPD/DID and Quantum Psychiatry
  Posted 15 days ago with 12 member flags