Help For Obese Teenagers
NBC Bay Area, 10th February 2010
More and more young patients undergo weight –loss surgery. It might sound a bit extreme but, according to the studies of the Journal of the American Medical Association, these patients lose 76.2 pounds on average. Those who only use dieting and exercising, lose 6.6 pounds.
Lauren Richmond was 14 years old and weighed 210 pounds. She tried everything to lose weight, from Weight Watchers to exercising and dieting. Not only she didn’t lose any weight but also health problems appeared. She started to have thyroid problems, high blood pressure and diabetes.
That is why she decided to undergo weight-loss surgery.
Two years after the procedure, she weighs 130 pounds. Not only she feels and looks good but also she didn’t have any complications and says she would recommend this kind of surgery to all obese teenagers.
“Before I was depressed and alone,” she said. “Now I’m out of my shell and I’m confident and outgoing. I love doing all kinds of things. Once you see you are actually losing weight, you’re willing to exercise, and eat right in order to make it work.”
Dr. Richard Nguyen, a bariatric surgeon, says the lap band operation is safe and effective. As it is less invasive, patients recover faster.
“Some kids, no matter what they eat, they’re not able to lose weight or they’re gaining weight constantly no matter what they eat or do,” Dr. Nguyen said. “They have adult medical problems. They have heart disease. They have high blood pressure and diabetes that you only find in people typically much older than they are.”
Dr. Nguyen highlights that it is not a magic bullet. Healthy diet and exercising still play major role in weight loss. Those patients have to change their life-style completely, in order to lose weight and maintain it.
