There is a reason that most surgeons will not perform bariatric or any other obesity related or cosmetic surgery on children, teens, anybody under 18.  They often believe that children can more easily fight it for one thing or might grow out of it, and the risks are much higher for that age group than it would be for most adults within a certain age range of course.  Though childhood obesity is growing and therefore the demand for the few doctors that will perform these surgeries on children is growing.

But of course, we have reasons to blame the childhood obesity epidemic on parents and not just some kind of gene growing throughout the years.  Doctors have their reasons for continuing to refuse patients under the age of 18.  No one can come up with a definitive answer.  But many are blaming it on fatty food habits, busy schedules that result in people turning to fast food, video games and television, school lunches, and in general indulgent or absent parenting practices. 

But small children in general are not turning to bariatric surgery.  In general terms, it is teens who want the obesity.  For adults, surgeons require that you suffer from obesity for at least 6 months while being unable to lose weight with a weight management program or series of weight management programs under the care of a family doctor or pediatrician.  They also require that you be fully physically mature, be severely obese with a minimum BMI of 40, suffer from obesity related diseases, have medical and psychological evaluations pre and post procedure, suffer from no addictive behaviors, generally be healthy and normal, promise not to get pregnant for at least a year post surgery, be motivated to actually follow a specified diet plan, be mature enough to make decisions, and have a supportive family unit of some type.

In general terms, there are many people who have found ways to lose weight without surgery when they had a BMI of 40 or more.  Whether it meant slowly starting to exercise little by little, cutting out the fried foods, being realistic in general about your habits and contributions to your own obesity, etc.  Mostly, it means being honest with yourself.  And really, it seems that many are turning to this surgery as a way to avoid diet and exercise, which is unfortunate.  Teens are learning from their parents and simply turning to that alternative at an earlier age.

The reality is that for this surgery, only about 1% of patients die on the table.  But as the numbers of individuals seeking this surgery grow, so do the simple numbers of people dying on the table, though it may continue to remain at 1%.  Complications range from stomach leakage to stomach infection in 10% of participants, and even with psychological evaluations and precautions, there are still a significant number who basically go crazy after surgery and despite throwing up, continue to eat continuously and excessively until they basically burst their stomach.  Many don’t bother with the concept of healthy eating and suffer from severe malnourishment, partly because of unhealthy eating habits that continue after surgery and partly because the digestive tract is systematically less able to absorb nutrients.

In the long term and short term, there are a lot of things to consider before using bariatric surgery to try to solve your obesity related problems.  It is considered by many to be an easier way out.  But once you get there, the road is not as easy as some may think, and many fail for that reason.  They simply were not expecting many of the complications and required lifestyle changes.  For a growing number of teens, maturity and levels of understanding can be a huge issue.