05/05/2010
Doctors don't recommend weight loss surgery for obese teens, despite benefits
by Laura Nineham
Weight loss surgery, which has been proven to help obese teenagers shed more than half their excess weight, is rarely recommended by American Doctors according to research by the University of Michigan.
It was found that doctors will recommend other methods of weight loss which are much less risky, such as dieting or weight loss hypnotherapy.
The research stated that “half of primary care physicians say they would not recommend the procedure to a patient under the age of 18.”
Dr. Susan Woolford, director of the Paediatric Comprehensive Weight Management Centre, explained the reasons behind their hesitance: "We still have a lot to learn about the long term effects of bariatric surgery among adolescents. Physicians worry whether the risks will outweigh the benefits. How long adolescents will be able to sustain the weight loss and what the psychological outcomes would be in their future, are questions that are still being explored.”
Doctors are encouraging teens to explore other avenues of weight loss, such as dieting. This has been criticised because, as part of the same study that proved the effectiveness of surgery, it was found that only 12% of teens lost weight in this way.
Hypnotherapy is one method of weight loss which has dramatic effects, but has minimal risk associated with it. Patients can be hypnotised to believe they've had a gastric band fitted, drastically reducing the amount of food they can consume at any one time. The effect is the same as having a gastric band fitted, but without the actual surgery because hypnotherapy re-programmes your brain to believe your stomach has shrunk so you feel fuller sooner.
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