12 Year Old Gastric Sleeve Patient

[sleeve 4 me 910]

I don't know what to think. It just makes me sad for some reason.

[carbgrl 119]

I definitely think an overweight child at 4 years old is the parents' fault. I think 12 is to young for the surgery. Maybe 16.

[ValerieSJackson 35]

I personally know children who were overweight and their parent never let them have candy or soda; after puberty they slimmed down;

For me on the other hand; my mother kept the wrong foods around but she and I are the only ones who were overweight.

As for my children; we try to watch what they eat and keep them active: they have watched me be fat their whole lives and they don't want that for themselves. I would definitely not let my children get too big.

But to each his own

[docangtx12 20]

My worst overweight child story was also on my pediatrics rotation in med school... Was 150 lb 3 year old whose parents gave him a candy bar whenever he cried. He had to have a tracheostomy tube placed in his neck just to breath because of all the fat on his chest and neck, and was in a wheel chair because his limbs couldn't support him. Child protective services removed the child from the home because at this extreme it was child abuse. Definitely too young for surgery at 3, but i feel so bad for the uphill battle this child already has to face.

[M2G 1,836]

I agree this is a touchy subject. On one hand many of us have said that our only regret with this surgery is that we didn't do it sooner! We've spent countless years (and its different for everyone) living life as overweight, obese, morbidly obese or super morbidly obese. Either way, what if we didn't have to endure that?

But I also feel that living life for the last 20 years as obese and morbidly obese, prepared me for the surgery and my subsequent success. Would I have been as successful without having tried *everything* else under the sun?

There are two things that bother me about this video. The first being that this particular little girl didn't look obese to me at all. She looked slightly overweight. I think general rules/guidelines for WLS is usually that you need to be about 100lbs over ideal body weight. I know that there are many, many, many people who undergo WLS who DO NOT have 100lbs to lose, but obviously this girl did NOT have 100lbs to lose to get to an ideal body weight. The other thing that bothered me was this statement "I won the battle and my struggles were over!" I think that is misleading. Even though I've got a surgically altered stomach for the rest of my life, I am still going to always need to stay on top of this. It's too easy to gain the weight back, so I have to make this a priority, healthy eating, exercising, and yes IT IS a battle and I will continue to fight it.

Definitely a topic worthy of discussion.

[JenniJune 79]

My niece and nephew are both morbidly obese. My niece is ten and 165 lbs and my nephew is 13 and over 200. What makes me sad is not a child having the surgery, but the fact that a child would HAVE to have it. It is such a testimony on how our society treats food and nutrition.

[LadyIvy 159]

It's too early, IMHO. There's too much growing happening in a 12 year old to be on an ultra-low calorie diet. And a 12 year old doesn't really grasp what lifelong decisions they're making.

I know being an obese pre-adolescent and adolescent is awful (been there, done that), but I think WLS should be reserved until the late teens if at all possible. Just MHO, and what I would do if I had a son or daughter in this situation.

You expressed my feelings exactly.

Shame on Dr. A for spending his life helping people learn about proper nutrition and yet his own niece falls through the cracks. Kids at 12 should not have to worry about losing weight. I was severely overweight at that age and I can honestly say it is because no one in my family knew anything about proper nutrition and appropriate exercise for a 12 year old.

[Fallenangel2904 494]

I'm not sure how I feel about this. I do think 12 is too young. Though at 12 I admit I was morbidly obese, I can't remember a time I wasn't obese. I think WLS could be an option for younger people if it is extreme. I've looked into WLS since I was 14 which was far too young to qualify. I think 12 is a bit too young though, unless it is life threatening. I'm not sure most 12 year olds would fully grasp what it takes to make the life style changes to be sucessful with WLS and now hurt themselves. This might go against the crowd though, but I do think WLS- especially the sleeve could be helpful in helping extremly overweight teens or youngersters who have life threatening problems, as mentioned the 11 year old who suffered a heart attack. It's really scary to be so exteamly overweight and so young (I was probably around 300lbs by the age of 13) so I understand.

[Miriam 50]

I also think that 12 is far too young unless the child is morbidly obese like the 300 lb. kid mentioned earlier. Does a 12-year-old even know what he's getting himself into with the sleeve? Don't get me wrong, I'm not the least bit sorry that I had surgery, but it definitely is life-changing and not always in a good way. Also, as others have mentioned, can a kid that age get enough nutrition after the sleeve in order to grow properly and get through puberty? Doubtful.

My parents always worried (and made me worry) about my weight, and I think that's probably half the reason I ended up fat enough to undergo WLS - looking back, I was actually pretty normal throughout most of my childhood and really only started putting on lots of weight after puberty. But as much as being fat negatively impacted my teenage years, I don't think that I was ready to make that decision about WLS at that age. Just my two cents' worth...

[SophieJaneB 92]

The video looks like the girl was extremely happy, said she enjoyed her weight loss, and was very happy. So I don't see the problem as long as the PARENTS and the CHILD come to a decision together!

That being said, personally, I wouldn't agree to let my child do it until they were older because of the risks of surgery. But if HER parents were okay with it, I think they made the right choice, she is well and happy, and looks like it improved her life quite a bit.

[Andrea8967 25]

Personally - I don't see anything wrong with this child having the surgery. Look how it's improved the quality of our lives. Look how long most of us have suffered as fat teens and obese adults. Wouldn't you have been a much happier person if you were able to live your entire youth as a thin, healthy person? I wasted years and years trying to diet. My marriage suffered and so did I. My husband just loves the new me- and so do I. I love getting dressed in the morning and wearing beautiful clothes instead of the "clown" pants I used to wear.

Why should this child suffer in a fat body when this surgery is a lifesaver? I just don't think it's as drastic as some people do. How would your life have changed had you been able to have this life changing surgery in your twenties instead of your forties or fifties? I say good luck to her and I applaud her courage.