| More overweight teens opting for weight loss surgery |
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| Wednesday, 07 March 2007 | |
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There are two major types of bariatric surgery performed on obese teens: gastric bypass and gastric banding. In the former, a small part of the stomach is sectioned off into a pouch that bypasses the first part of the small intestine and connects directly to the lower intestine. With gastric banding, a restrictive device is placed around the stomach to limit the quantity of food that can be consumed at any sitting. It is estimated that 2,744 adolescents underwent such procedures between 2000 and 2003, with the figure growing rapidly each year. Bariatric surgery is now seen as a suitable procedure for children who are morbidly obese, who have attempted to lose weight through diet and exercise and failed, and whose obesity threatens their general health, through risk of developing diabetes, heart disease or joint disorders. However, although performed recently on a 12 year old girl, liposuction is not a suitable procedure for weight loss, since it does not address the underlying causes of obesity, and if these are not corrected, the fat removed during the procedure will eventually return. |
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