Gastric Banding Proposed for Obese Teens
Written by Ann Pietrangelo on February 11th, 2010 in Family, Health Care Policy, In The News, Linked Articles.
Obesity is estimated to affect an estimated five million young people in the United States alone. Studies are currently underway to evaluate laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding as a possible treatment option for adolescents.
A randomized trial reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared the outcomes of gastric banding with an optimal lifestyle program and concluded that “among obese adolescent participants, use of gastric banding compared with lifestyle intervention resulted in a greater percentage achieving a loss of 50 percent of excess weight, corrected for age. There were associated benefits to health and quality of life.”
Is gastric banding for obese teens a reasonable solution to a serious problem… or part of a larger problem?
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