When All Else Fails

New-York Presbyterian has a taken a giant step forward in curtailing America's childhood obesity problem. The hospital has just opened a Center for Adolescent for Bariatric Surgery at its Morgan's Stanley's Children's Hospital. In doing so, this New York hospital powerhouse will be one of the first in the country to offer this procedure, also known as gastric banding, to kids as young as 14. So far six teens have undergone the surgery and four more are planned before the end of the year. Up to 40 more kids are currently enrolled in a weight-loss program to become eligible to go under the knife this spring.

Gastric banding, the procedure of choice these days, is less invasive than good-old fashioned gastric stapling and can be performed laporascopically. Basically, a small band is placed around the top of the stomach, creating a small pocket where food is diverted. This leads to patients feeling fuller faster, ultimately eating less. In addition to the immediate benefit of not being teased on the playground, losing weight would offer the additional healthy perks of avoiding diabetes, sleep apnea, and adulthood obesity. But this is not say that the procedure is risk free: the band can slip out of place and need to be adjusted, requiring an additional procedure. And remember people, surgery is still surgery, no matter how minor!

The Daily News has some profiles of teenage patients who have and who will be having the procedure. For more information on the procedure, check out the NIH site. Famous gastric bypass surgery recipient Sharon Osbourne has decided to have her bypass band removed.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Kapil Desai in News on December 5, 2006 2:32 PM

Comments [rss]

Aristocrat

Alot of society's problems come down to "bad parenting" - crime, obesity, education, drug abuse, sociopathic behavior. Better parenting rarely is looked upon as the solution because we as a society to not feel we have the right to tell parents how to raise their children. Thus, we have to treat the symptoms, not the cause.

stewart

this should be like a sting

when people show up with their obese kids they should be arrested for child abuse/neglect and their kids should be taken away

fatso

sorry, #2, but even people in low income areas have grocery stores that carry fruits and vegetables, beans, rice, pasta, cereal, milk, juice and yogurt.

you don't need to have a whole foods in your neighborhood to eat healthy food.

Grammar Nazi

#6, there should be a comma between Proofread and people.

Proofread, people.

ed_Extinct

*doctors can't make money fighting the ROOT of the problem! *

they can make plenty of money finding the root of the problem by seeing children with these problems. finding alternate solutions like dieting and eating regiments. the bottom line is the parents are to blame for eating habits.

as a child i was the one with vegatables trying to trade for pudding. needless to say i was made fun of but never once had the idea of killing the kids who made fun of me... nor did i wear a trenchcoat. my parents were always working but still had the ability to guide me in the right direction. i also had family friends, and relatives to help guide... i just do not buy this "my folks work all the time or are absent parents" story... inner city kids have rougher for sure, but their schools as much as their parents are to blame since they're just as responsible as the parents in nurturing young children and young adults.

Kojak

Jeaz.

Guys . . . doctors can't make money fighting the ROOT of the problem! Once kids are nice and plump, THEN we can begin treatment! You all should know better.

rschnabel

I agree with edEx. The root of the problem is not being solved. How about parents stepping up and teaching their kids about healthy eating. Basically, don't eat so DAMN MUCH!

SoontobeFat

I thought about gorging to get on The Biggest Loser.

anonymass

Just a sad, sad snapshot of contemporary American society - viewed from different angles and none of them remotely flattering.

Peter

Some adults who aren't quite heavy enough for weight loss surgery, but can't or won't lose weight the old-fashioned way, gorge themselves in order to get heavy enough to qualify. I've no doubt that some crafty teens will get in the act themselves.

ugh

this reminds me of some kid I saw on some shit MTV show. He was in high school and extremely fat, and had to beg his doctor to say he needed gastric bypass for his health. Meanwhile, he was sneaking cheetos behind his mother's back, and basically just lazy. It's hard to not feel that people like that deserve their health problems.

Hi

Does anyone copyedit your posts? I mean seriously. This is ridiculous. Proofread people.

ed_Extinct

this is something that bothers me. trying to solve problems by avoiding the root of the problem.

i always think back to the columbine shooting with crap like this. the root of the problem with that particular school shooting wasn't video games, trenchcoats or popular kids it was bad parenting. instead of immediately banning trenchcoats (this really happened) the school board should have had lengthy meetings with all the parents and set up an awerness center of sorts helping parents with their children. instead, they ban trnechcoats. yeah good idea, that'll stop those kids.

with this situation with childhood obesity, this is not the answer... there shlould be school and home based programs that teach parents and children that bad health is bad for kids too. eating mcdonalds and then sitting on the couch with a bag of high fructose soda and transfat chips is not good, for anyone... workout programs and better gyms classes should also be mandatory.

most of these obesity problems are avoidable, but as americans instead of blaming gluttony, self control and bad parenting we blame our organs. good job america!

jojo

The perfect solution is a slap to the face when you've eaten the 7th chicken mcnugget. Seriously, my mom never let me eat anything bad

Tom

Holy crap, how about just eating less rather than invasive surgery at 14?

How is this different than giving a 14 year old breast implants?

Eric Smith

Interesting link, but the Daily News doesn't tell the full story. New York Presbyterian has also been involved in a setting up a childhood obesity clinic at its main branch (the former New York Hospital). This is part of their Pediatrics department. The clinic encourages heathly habits; it also recognizes that many low income people have poor food choices available in their neighborhoods.