My daughter had brought up to me several times over the last 3 years that she thinks about having wls. She's 17, 5'2", weighs a lil over 200, has been overweight since about the she of 10, and has pcos. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts are on this. I personally, am for it, but I wanted some feedback.

My younger sisters are interested in the surgery, they're 18. And my only reason I'm against them getting it YET is I don't think they are anywhere near mentally ready for wls. You need a certain mindset for this. You need to be ready to eat healthy, exercise and change your mentality towards food. I think showing a true attempt to lose weight through diet and exercise is important, simply because if shows you know what it's going to take and that wls isn't the easy fix. Unfortunately my sisters seem to still think it's magic.

If your daughter puts a real effort into being healthy and understands the consequences of it being a lifetime change, then why wait.

I agree with Scarletwitch19, it depends . Is your girl mature enough to deal with ALL the changes of WLS ? Forever ? Is she one to follow through on other things (nothing "diet" related) like school, homework, curfew ?. Does she have a job that requires her to follow rules , and does she do it whether she likes them or not ? Does she see WLS as a legitimate tool to help her lose weight, or does she think of it as a magical answer to her weight problem ? Also, with pcos, what does her Dr. say ? You know her best and it must be horribly tough to be overweight from the age of 10, but if I saw mostly positive answers to the above questions I would give my daughter my blessing. Good luck !

Do it, seriously, it's a critical age to get into the attractive zones, where one starts looking for a mate.their very happiness depends on the, I've lived though it...

Has she tried doing something like a weight loss camp? I went to one when I was about her age and lost a sizable amount of weight and kept it off into my mid twenties. I completely understand the regain factor and know personally that girls I went to camp with did regain to some degree, but some have remained successful to this day and the big jumpstart in weight loss combined with a better understanding of nutrition made all the difference. Even if she loses and regains, by then she might be more mature and able to use this strong of a tool more effectively.

I just know that if I had surgery at that age and then a short time later had to deal with the social pressures of eating and drinking in college and then navigating life as an adult I wouldn't have been as successful as I have been now with weight loss. That age group is the most change filled period of any in a persons life, and there are pretty serious consequences if you can't stick with the pretty rigid plan.

If you are interested in programs, there's Wellspring Camps and Camp Penbrook during summers that I know of. I spent time at Structure House in North Carolina and they have a program that includes therapy, personal training and nutrition and operates year-round. I don't mean to imply that your daughter can't handle surgery, I'm mostly thinking about how much of an added responsibility something like this is during a period where a lot of us made mistakes learning who we are.

Good luck to you both- I truly empathize and know what it's like to be an overweight teen. You both seem proactive and I'm sure she will find her way no matter what path she chooses!

I can't speak for everyone, but having been severely overweight most of my childhood and adult life, I would have LOVED to have to opportunity and support to do this back then. Yes, it's a life time of change, but when I was 17, I was definitely more capable of coping with those changes than I was in my twenties when I went running in the other direction in fear. Had I had an emotionally supportive family to help me through and cheer me on, I could have done it then and be a lot healthier and happier than I am right now. Obviously, you cannot just go have WLS without the proper steps anyway, so maybe guide her through the process. Go to a seminar, go see the psych, talk to the NUT and see if maybe this is the right thing for her right now or if she isn't emotionally ready, she'll at least know what it fully involves when she is.

My younger sisters are interested in the surgery, they're 18. And my only reason I'm against them getting it YET is I don't think they are anywhere near mentally ready for wls. You need a certain mindset for this. You need to be ready to eat healthy, exercise and change your mentality towards food. I think showing a true attempt to lose weight through diet and exercise is important, simply because if shows you know what it's going to take and that wls isn't the easy fix. Unfortunately my sisters seem to still think it's magic.

If your daughter puts a real effort into being healthy and understands the consequences of it being a lifetime change, then why wait.

I can't speak for everyone, but having been severely overweight most of my childhood and adult life, I would have LOVED to have to opportunity and support to do this back then. Yes, it's a life time of change, but when I was 17, I was definitely more capable of coping with those changes than I was in my twenties when I went running in the other direction in fear. Had I had an emotionally supportive family to help me through and cheer me on, I could have done it then and be a lot healthier and happier than I am right now. Obviously, you cannot just go have WLS without the proper steps anyway, so maybe guide her through the process. Go to a seminar, go see the psych, talk to the NUT and see if maybe this is the right thing for her right now or if she isn't emotionally ready, she'll at least know what it fully involves when she is.

Great advice. Thank you. I'm sorry you didn't have support from your family.