Florida Child Injury Law Blog

Today, weight loss surgery is not limited to only adults.  In a recent report by the New York Times, Dr. Evan Nadler, co-director of the Obesity Institute at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington stated, “I honestly believe that in 5 to 10 years you’ll see as many children getting weight-loss procedures as adults.”

 There are concerns, however.  “You don’t really know what the outcome is,” said Dr. Edward Livingston, chairman of gastrointestinal and endocrine surgery at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. “You talk about the benefit being that it prevents kids from terrible chronic disease later in life. But some of them are going to regain weight. Some of them are going to have long-term complications and we won’t find out until later.”

 The questions that come to mind are obvious.  Are the surgical measures appropriate?  Would a diet and lifestyle change be more fitting?  While bariatric surgery may be warranted in some instances in order to prevent a child from suffering serious complications from obesity, given some of the questions that have been raised it clearly is not a surgery performed because of cosmetic reasons.

Dr. David Ludwig, a pediatric endocrinologist at Boston’s Children’s Hospital and a leading expert on the subject, understands the pros and cons. He asserted in an online report that surgery with appropriate safeguards may be an option for those that have been carefully screened and have failed to have any success with other measures. 

But clearly there are risks. Bariatric surgery, he said, “can result in horrendous complications, require repeat surgeries and create a whole new set of medical problems.

 In the coming years more studies will undoubtedly emerge.  For more information on this important topic, the Mayo Clinic provides a wealth of resources regarding childhood obesity and treatment options.