From Your Health Journal…..”Consumer Affairs recently had a great article called Is weight-loss surgery the right answer for overweight teenagers? With obesity on the rise in many parts of the world, and children suffering from risk factors for heart disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, weak bones, low self-esteem – many parents are concerned, and many children unhappy (and unhealthy). Is obesity in children out of control. Although a recent study found a majority of parents oppose gastric bypass — for their obese teens, a group of researchers say the procedure can be a big help to young patients. Weight-loss surgery improved blood flow among 60 percent of teens who underwent the procedure, and also decreased their heart size, which in many cases had become enlarged because of obesity. I really enjoyed the Consumer Affairs site, and want to draw traffic to their page, so please visit their web site (link provided below) to view the complete article.”

From the article…..

Some researchers say teens suffer lasting damage from being severely obese

Over the last few years, there has been extensive talk about the obesity problem here in the United States, particularly childhood obesity, and there’s also been a good amount of dialogue on what children should do to live more healthfully.

It’s been widely reported that childhood obesity is linked to a host of serious illnesses like diabetes and heart disease, so a large part of the national dialogue has also been about what kids and parents should do to eat better and get more exercise.

But what should parents do when eating right and exercising aren’t enough, and the obesity problem goes from something that can be self-managed to something that’s out of control?

Although a recent study found a majority of parents oppose bariatric weight-loss surgery — also called gastric bypass — for their obese teens, a group of researchers say the procedure can be a big help to young patients.

Researchers found that weight-loss surgery improved blood flow among 60 percent of teens who underwent the procedure, and also decreased their heart size, which in many cases had become enlarged because of obesity.

These results were determined after a research team from Nationwide Children’s Hospital conducted cardiac MRI tests on teen patients, both before and after they underwent weight loss surgery, a procedure that’s not typically done on teens today.

Teen lost 100 pounds

To find out just how weight loss surgery may impact the life of a teenager, we spoke to 21-year old Kelley Allen, from New Concord, Ohio, who had bariatric surgery when she was 17 years of age.

After losing 100 pounds since the surgery, she says the changes in her life have been pretty tremendous.

“Things have changed for me in many ways since surgery, not just physically but mentally,” she said in an interview with ConsumerAffairs.

“I had zero confidence in myself before surgery. But after I had the surgery and saw the results and realized how much better I physically felt, I knew that I had a second chance at life and I was excited about it.”

To read the full article…..Click here