Mary L. Brandt, MD, Professor and Vice Chair of the Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery and a pediatric surgeon at Texas Children's Hospital worries about these results as well. "We are trying to help teenagers who are at high risk for preventable but life-threatening diseases such as diabetes or obesity induced liver disease. Bariatric surgery will improve the medical condition of obese teenagers regardless of the starting weight of the patient. But our ability to help these children prevent or reverse their life-threatening diseases will be even greater if our patients are able to approach a normal weight."

According to Brandt, "The other major implication of this new data is that many insurance companies will delay surgery for years, usually by requiring documentation of multiple attempts at weight loss. Severely obese teenagers only rarely respond to these kinds of treatments and, despite intense efforts to lose weight, often will gain weight during these efforts. Although it is ethically important for these children to have a least one well supervised attempt to lose weight without surgery, this report shows us that delaying the surgery while trying multiple times may not be in their best interest."

This study, like others, found that after surgery, patients generally show significant improvement or resolution of cardiovascular risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels.

Dr. Inge said that the study indicates that families and communities need to take childhood weight problems seriously and aggressively pursue the best treatment options available for them before the weight problem gets out of hand. "As doctors who take care of kids, we have an obligation to identify those patients who are at highest risk and start explaining treatment options to families earlier before the child or teen gets to be two or three times his or her ideal weight, " said Dr. Inge.

SOURCE Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center