Should Children Have Weight Loss Surgery?
The rise in child obesity cases is indisputable. More and more children have weight issues and this is affecting their health as well as their self-esteem. Bariatric surgery has been used for weight loss on adults for many years but would it be an option for children? A new study says that it could actually be a beneficial option for adolescents.
Led by Dr. Marc P. Michalsky, the surgical director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the study showed that obesity can cause complications in abnormal glucose levels and high blood pressure in these young adults and that surgery could make things better.
Researchers looked at the Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) to determine the effect of weight loss surgery on adolescents. The study involved 242 participants with an average age of 17 and a median BMI of 51.Of these,72 percent were white, 76 percent were female, and 33 percent had at least three cardiovascular disease risk factors. The researchers found that three years after undergoingsurgery, only 5 percent of participants had three or more risk factors.
The participants had different procedures. 14 had adjustable gastric banding, 67 had avertical sleeve gastrectomy, and 161 had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Dr. Michalsky pointed out that this was the first large-scale analysis of its kind. This study brought up other observations as well.
• Younger participants had a higher likelihood to resolve high cholesterol (dyslipidemia) in comparison with older patients.
• Females who were younger and with larger amounts of weight lost, had a higher chance of risk factors being resolved.
• Females were generally more likely to have improved blood pressure.
While the changes in weight loss from bariatric surgery were not unexpected, these findings showed that the earlier one goes for bariatric surgery the better the chance of dyslipidemia remission. This also shows that adolescents could benefit from this surgery. It is however best done on those that have failed to attain significant weight loss using traditional methods.
Led by Dr. Marc P. Michalsky, the surgical director of the Center for Healthy Weight and Nutrition at Nationwide Children’s Hospital, the study showed that obesity can cause complications in abnormal glucose levels and high blood pressure in these young adults and that surgery could make things better.
Researchers looked at the Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen-LABS) to determine the effect of weight loss surgery on adolescents. The study involved 242 participants with an average age of 17 and a median BMI of 51.Of these,72 percent were white, 76 percent were female, and 33 percent had at least three cardiovascular disease risk factors. The researchers found that three years after undergoingsurgery, only 5 percent of participants had three or more risk factors.
The participants had different procedures. 14 had adjustable gastric banding, 67 had avertical sleeve gastrectomy, and 161 had a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass. Dr. Michalsky pointed out that this was the first large-scale analysis of its kind. This study brought up other observations as well.
• Younger participants had a higher likelihood to resolve high cholesterol (dyslipidemia) in comparison with older patients.
• Females who were younger and with larger amounts of weight lost, had a higher chance of risk factors being resolved.
• Females were generally more likely to have improved blood pressure.
While the changes in weight loss from bariatric surgery were not unexpected, these findings showed that the earlier one goes for bariatric surgery the better the chance of dyslipidemia remission. This also shows that adolescents could benefit from this surgery. It is however best done on those that have failed to attain significant weight loss using traditional methods.
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