| Obesity Surgery and Children
Whether children should undergo weight loss surgery is still open to debate. Previously, it has been said that it is too risky for children to undergo obesity surgery. Because of the increase in the number of child obesity cases, the issue has become very important.
Management of childhood obesity involves dieting and exercising with supervision. These should be tried first before considering surgery. Weight loss surgery is not for very young children. However, when a child reaches the age 13 and above, then surgery becomes an option for weight loss.
The need to do surgery should always be weighed against the long term effects of obesity to the child. Is this child at risk of developing type 2 diabetes and other health-related medical conditions?
One criterion of weight loss surgery states that the minimum age of the candidate should be 18 years of age and above. But there are certain exceptions to this, and each case is considered unique and should be judged on its individual merit.
In the U.S. obesity surgery has been performed on children below 18 years of age and provided good results. Only one type of surgery is recommended for children and teenagers and this is gastric banding. Gastric banding has few complications, less risky and is reversible.
The main argument in this issue is that of preventing any long term health risks of obesity to a child. If steps such as undergoing surgery is not done to address the problem, then this may continue until adolescence or even adulthood. He may become vulnerable to a wide range of obesity-related medical conditions that may be chronic or life-threatening.
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