A Healthier Us : Best Way To Lose Weight Fast - Weight Loss

Over the past 20 years, the Office of the Surgeon General says the number of overweight children has nearly tripled. This national epidemic is causing health problems that were once unimaginable for children. Now, children have to worry about high blood pressure, diabetes and strokes. With obese children turning into obese teens they are looking for adult solutions, but is gastric bypass the right way to go?

I have a problem thinking teens should undergo gastric bypass as a solution for being overweight. Are teens and their parents really ready for the risks involved with this surgery even death? I think teens have a naive mind-set. They are thinking that they want lose weight, be happy and date. Are they ready for the lifestyle change involved with procedure? Taking vitamins everyday and being very careful of what and how they eat. Plus trying to manage the horrific pain that comes with surgery. Not to mention some of the possible side effects and risks of infection.

I realize there is very stringent criteria for children being considered for this, and the bar is much higher than adults. In addition to being overweight, they have to have major problems like losing their sight, diabetes or sleep apnea.

My feeling is there are other solutions other than surgery. It is one thing for forty and fifty year olds who have battled their weight all their lives and have tried virtually every diet or Weight Loss plan. I just don’t feel teens have tried long enough to be looking at such a drastic and serious solution. The parents and teens need to work together on their lifestyle to make positive changes. If the challenge is too big for the family I think it would be better to seek help from a doctor and a nutritionist plus a personal trainer.

This surgery is not necessarily a permanent fix. The stomach can grow. People can eat their way through these diets by eating foods that don’t have a lot of substance to them.

We still don’t know what issues will occur emotionally as kids have decisions made for them by parents who care about them. But for teens, it’s a big decision to make and a penalty you may pay for the rest of your life because none of these operations are without risk. Anything that’s strong enough to help you is strong enough to hurt you. There is currently a ten year study going on that is focusing on teens who have had gastric bypass. We’ll have to wait to hear what the study has to say. It will be interesting.

Education is key to curbing child obesity in the future. We need to be smarter about how we go about a healthier lifestyle and teach our children.