A new study suggests that weight loss surgery should be an option for those children who are severely obese and are unable to slim down. For a decade, participants who were as young as 5 were followed by a research team. It was found that the gastric sleeve procedure is safe and in the long term, is very effective.
Dr. Aayed Alqahtani, the principal study author, said that a worldwide resistance to performing weight loss procedures for children below the age of 14 or 15 has formed due to the lack of long term data and some pediatricians’ fears that the linear growth of children would be affected by weight loss surgery.
Study Suggests Weight Loss Surgery For Kids
At King Saud University in Saudi Arabia, he is a professor of bariatric and minimally invasive surgery. He said that their findings have presented clear evidence that hesitancy regarding the performance of bariatric surgery on children and young adolescents should be removed as they could hugely benefit from the operation.
In a news release from the American College of Surgeons, he said that they have found a solution that is proven to deal with severe obesity and its comorbidities.
The operation involves the division and removal of a part of the stomach. This includes the part that has the hunger hormone, which stimulates appetite. A sleeve is created by the rest of the portions that are stapled which makes the stomach banana-sized.
Less food is consumed by the patients as a consequence, and they lose weight.2500 Saudi Arabians between the ages of 5 and 21 who had severe obesity were included in the study.
The patients in the study had tried to lose weight through six-month programs that included being counseled on diet and behavior. 1/3rd of the patients were younger than 15.
Between 2008 and 2021, the participants had their procedures. About 10% of the patients had type 2 diabetes or abnormal blood gats before the surgery. Around 15% of them had high blood pressure. The risk of these conditions can be raised by obesity. This can also contribute to fatty liver disease, sleep apnea, and depression.
The authors of the study noted that around 19% of the youth are obese in the United States. For younger kids between the ages of 5 and 14, Alqahtani’s team found no difference in the loss of weight or trajectory of height when compared to older patients who had the operation.
An average of 30% of their total weight was lost by patients. There was even a reversal of type 2 diabetes and key heart disease risk factors. Alqahtani said that there were no deaths related to the procedure.
The authors of the study said that there should not be a lower age cutoff for the procedure.
According to the study, even 7 to 10 years after the operations, the patients continued to have good results. It was also found that type 2 diabetes was resolved in over 70% of patients.
In more than half of those who had these problems, blood fat levels and blood pressure were normal. It was also found that an average of 71% loss of excess weight was maintained in the patients. The findings of the study were published on Sept 23 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons online.
The findings of the study were consistent with the most recent guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Society of Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery. These guidelines do not advise waiting at any cost until a child reaches the age of maturity if the operation is recommended.
