Bariatric Surgery For Adolescents: Considerations For Parents

By Author: Shilpika Ponnappa
Total Articles: 428
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The youth population is becoming bigger, horizontally. A big population of teenagers nowadays is reaching obesity faster due to bad diet, sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise. If the adolescent has become morbidly obese, something that cannot be addressed by diet and exercise, surgical procedures might be necessary.

Bariatric surgery is the most common procedure done for adolescents experiencing morbid obesity. According to studies, chances of losing weight fast for adolescents are very possible with the help of this procedure. However, there are still some unanswered questions regarding the procedure especially the long term effects of undergoing the surgery while them still on the phase of rapid changes and development. Medical experts have been analyzing the effects of the said procedure to the mind and body of the patient and if it has favorable or adverse effects.

According to experts in pediatric obesity as well as bariatric, parents should only consider having their adolescent kids undergo the said procedure if conservative methods of weight loss (diet and exercise) is not giving any significant results ...
... within a span of 6 months. Compared to adults, kids are capable of losing weight much faster as long as they stick to the program and follow strict diet regimens while on the program. Kids, who are only overweight, meaning with a BMI of less than 40, are not allowed to undergo surgical procedures since it is still possible to have them lose weight with strict guidance from doctors, parents, school and the kid as well.

If the child is morbidly obese, with BMI that reaches beyond 40, then they said surgery is recommended. The kid should have reached their adult height also before undergoing the procedure. For most cases, guys reach that height at the age of 15 and girls at the age of 14. The candidate should also have a serious health risk like diabetes, heart disease, sleep apnea or other physiological and psychological impairment. Before qualification, tests are done to see if the child is emotionally and psychologically capable of handling the surgery and if they are dedicated enough to consider a lifestyle change in order to keep their weight down in the long run.

According to studies, there is no problem if morbidly obese candidates with health risks undergo the procedure. In fact, it is highly recommended to improve their quality of life. In the past few years, there have been a great number of procedures done on adolescents to help them in speeding up the weight loss process. It is necessary, however, to prevent the onset of obesity as early as possible. There are risks to any kind of surgery as well as costs. It would be best to start teaching the kids proper diet and lifestyle while young.

Shilpika Ponnappa,
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