Obese teen credits surgery for weight loss

aravind82 said:
Obese teen credits surgery for weight loss - CNN.com


I think this is sending the wrong message. :cuss: Thoughts??
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The only message that it's sending is that people are fucking stupid. The producers of this show are complete idiots for pushing the idea that weight loss surgery is "the way to go" for overweight teens. Even the teen herself says...

She told CNN her eating habits were to blame.
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Right. So, if you know that your eating habits are to blame, then change your eating habits. Don't try and send the message that weight loss surgery is the best option, especially for kids. People fucking amaze sometimes with their blatant stupidity.
 
I know several people who have successfully lost weight via weight loss surgery. It's f'ing hard. It's a huge life change. It's emotionally and mentally damn near devastating. But for some people .. it works.

What I worry about is the long term effects. I have a friend who was recently (at 42) diagnosed with pancreas cancer. He lost over 100 lbs through diet and exercise about 10 years ago. If he'd had WLS, he wouldn't have been eligible for the surgery that removed his cancer (and his pancreas and part of his stomach and part of his large intestine) and that saved his life. He'd be dead by now.

I think that a lot of teens don't understand the impact that the surgery may have on their future health.

But I also think that a lot of teens dont have the family support that they need to lose weight. Think about it - as an adult, we can choose what groceries to buy, choose where to go for activities, choose lots of things. When you're 15, you're somewhat at the mercy of your parents. If your parents don't buy healthy food, or cook healthy food, or choose to take you to places where you can be active - you're kinda screwed. Most 15 year olds I know don't have the money or the transportation available to buy their own healthy groceries and cook their own meals. And if their families are resistant to the idea ... what are they supposed to do?

I think it's a sad situation all over, but on the other hand, if it gives her a place to start and means she'll live past her 18th birthday ... well ... it's something, right?
 
It's just scary what message things like this could be sending to young people. I'm sure we all agree that we want children to be healthy and happy, but does it come to a point when a line should be drawn?

This story made me think about the 12 year old that had liposuction, and after she started gaining the weight back her parents took her to Mexico to have lap band surgery.
Story here:

I know the stories aren't the same, but still unfortunate.
 
KaraCooks said:
I think that a lot of teens don't understand the impact that the surgery may have on their future health.
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...which is exactly why stories like this shouldn't be aired. Teens are impressionable enough in regards to their body image; they don't need the TV to tell them to go out and do something stupid.
 
It's a great time in this country to be a doctor specializing in these types of surgery. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
 
ChefChiTown said:
...which is exactly why stories like this shouldn't be aired. Teens are impressionable enough in regards to their body image; they don't need the TV to tell them to go out and do something stupid.
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If only it were that simple, but then you are just lying to them.
 
My friend's Mom lost a good bit of weight when she had weight loss surgery (so I'm told, she's been the same size ever since I've met her). She's always eating salads thinking that's going to help her loose weight, and every time I'm there tries to make me eat one too... the problem with her salads is this is what they contain: a small amount of lettuce, high calorie dressing and lots of it, covering the whole of the bowl (although she claims it's such a small amount not to count it at all), bacon bits, cheese, croutons, and peperoni. That along with snacking on chips, and always eating Wendy's... and she wonders why she hasn't lost any more weight, she's had weight loss surgery, shouldn't she be a size 2 by now?
 
Surgery is not an easy experience for anyone to go through at a very young age. But the thing is it can prevent health problems such as diabetes, and certain kinds of cancer. Bariatric surgery is one of the options but considered as case to case basis for candidates.
 
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I can't pretend to know what is best for everyone, but I do know that before any kid of mine had surgery for weight loss, we'd cut calories, focus on moderate amounts of healthy food, cut junk food and get more exercise. Seriously, worth a shot, don't you think?

What I find most disturbing about this story is that her parents and younger brother are overweight as well. They even said that the family doesn't eat healthy and that the girl had been a junk food junkie her whole life. I'm actually quite frustrated by the lack of effort on the parent's part.

I know a lot of people, even people on this board, have benifitted greatly from weight loss surgery. But in this case it just seemed like the parents knew there was a problem, but didn't feel like making the effort to fix it themselves. It was easier to send there 14 year old under a knife than it was to eat some veggies and stop buying junk.

Not to mention, she's going to be living with her parents for at least another 4 years. Sure, she's losing weight now, but unless they get their butts in gear, she'll just put it all back on. What a waste.
 
I think this is completely ridiculous. A 14 year old doesn't have a job and doesn't buy food. Her parents could have easily had her lose weight by simply not buying her more food than needed. Or simply locking the food cabinets if they must have the junk themselves.

Maybe an adult with money can say they don't have self control and need surgery, but a teenager without self control still won't have the money to buy food unless the parents provide it.

I think I'd hate my parents if I were that girl, thanks to their failed parenting skills she had to have a body part cut out to save her life.
 
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Surgery is better than dying, but it's unfortunate she couldn't get her eating under control herself. I don't understand weight loss surgery myself because the doctor says "Now once you've had the surgery, you'll need to adhere to a strict diet." Well if they could adhere to a strict diet, wouldn't they not need the surgery???
 
Jacklinger said:
Surgery is better than dying, but it's unfortunate she couldn't get her eating under control herself. I don't understand weight loss surgery myself because the doctor says "Now once you've had the surgery, you'll need to adhere to a strict diet." Well if they could adhere to a strict diet, wouldn't they not need the surgery???
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Probably after the surgery they don't feel hungry, or feel so bad when they eat that they don't.

Still, I agree that surgery is better than dying, but her parents had the power to get her eating under control. A kid can't buy food, that's why I think it's ridiculous. How can a parent, even if they are fat themselves, let their kid eat their way to the point where they have to surgically remove a body part to avert death?! An out of control child can't eat food without buying it first, and it's the parent that buys it.

To be honest I think the parents of a child in such a situation are criminally negligent. If a parent starved their child to the point where their health suffered they would be dealt with accordingly, but apparently feeding your child to the point of death is a-okay.
 
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I just love when the adults in these kind of stories play the “we want what is best for our child.” card. If they really truly felt that way, they would have done research and got things fixed before the kid got so big. They said dieting didn’t work for her. Bull pucky! If it didn’t work there was a reason, plain and simple. There are causes for people not being able to lose weight, just as there are causes for people gaining.

People just want the quick fix.

I’m not bashing the surgery by any means, but what was broken has to be fixed before the surgery can help.

I know so many people that say. I don’t know why I can’t lose, I hardly eat anything. >.> lets stop and look at that for a moment. Either that person is not eating properly and their body is holding on to anything that it can. Or they have no idea how much they are really taking in. I had someone tell me that she had gone to try a new steakhouse. And she said it was horrible how small the portions were. When she described them to me, I said that they sounded like normal CORRECT portions. But she just would not except that. Because that would be like admitting that she eats too much. She told me she eats proper portions and these were much too small.
 
CryingRaven said:
I just love when the adults in these kind of stories play the “we want what is best for our child.” card. If they really truly felt that way, they would have done research and got things fixed before the kid got so big. They said dieting didn’t work for her. Bull pucky! If it didn’t work there was a reason, plain and simple. There are causes for people not being able to lose weight, just as there are causes for people gaining.

People just want the quick fix.

I’m not bashing the surgery by any means, but what was broken has to be fixed before the surgery can help.

I know so many people that say. I don’t know why I can’t lose, I hardly eat anything. >.> lets stop and look at that for a moment. Either that person is not eating properly and their body is holding on to anything that it can. Or they have no idea how much they are really taking in. I had someone tell me that she had gone to try a new steakhouse. And she said it was horrible how small the portions were. When she described them to me, I said that they sounded like normal CORRECT portions. But she just would not except that. Because that would be like admitting that she eats too much. She told me she eats proper portions and these were much too small.
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There are those extremely rare cases where a person can gain weight as a result of a genetic defect even if they eat normally (I saw a documentary about a kid like that, who was in a very controlled environment watched by scientists, but there are only a handful of people with that genetic defect).

Most people are overweight simply because they eat more than they use. It's simple physics, your body needs a certain amount of energy to maintain temperature, to move, to replace cells, to live. If you eat less than that, you'll lose. Of course if you're the kind of person who doesn't move around much, you'll have to eat less than someone who works out.
 
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