Hi all. I just wanted to get a thread started about this hot topic. I have noticed a couple people posting about kids getting banded. What is your opinion?

My opinion: I think banding in teenage years is okay as long as they are older and have had the majority of their growth spurts. If they have given it an honest effort and are not just being lazy then I am all for it!! I think that banding under the age of 14 is a tragedy as their bodies are still developing and growing. Especially for females, there is a HUGE growth spurt coming between 16-18. I also think that parenting is a key. Feeding your children healthy meals and still making good choices for them. Just because they are older and more independent does not mean that you don't still cook a good dinner for them or pack their lunches. I have heard of 11 and 12 year olds getting banded and this saddens me greatly.

I am sorry for being so opinionated about this (well actually I am not sorry as it is my right as an American) but I just think that as SUCH a young age there is so much more things you can try than surgery. Plus, after trying these things if the problem remains after their last major growth spurt there may even be a better solution. WLS is obviously not going anywhere and is evolving more and more. The option will still be there later. I guess as a parent of a 12 year old it wouldn't even be in my top 10 options right now. I would be trying so many more things to get their bodies healthy and under control.

I do consider myself lucky in that my son has been skipped I think in the "fat gene" of our family. He is very tall, athletic and healthy. But then again, I take my parenting veryyyy seriously and have always had him eat healthy. (even when I was shoving a twinkie in my mouth in secret in the bathroom! bad mommy) I guess I take the "do as I say, not as I do" approach. But NO MORE! Now the whole house is eating healthier!!

Okay, so now what is everyone elses opinions? I am looking forward to hearing them!!

Please remember in this thread that everyone has their own opinions and it is our right to have them. No personal attacks are tolerated or I will simply delete this thread. Please, let's just discuss how we personally "feel" about this topic...

ok... ready.... set...... GO!

It really depends on the size of the kid, doesn't it. I know that the Band has not been approved for children under 18. There is a boy that has attended some of the support meetings that my surgean has (I can't go because I'm in exile.) This boy weighs over 400 pounds at age 16.

I think for this boy, the band is probably the right thing. I know that there are a number of parents out there who might get their children banded because they "might" get fat.

When I was a teen, my parents were forever getting after me about my weight, but when I look at my high school pix, I WAS THE SAME SIZE AS EVERYBODY ELSE. I wasn't fat, even though my parents insisted that I was. THEY were fat, not me.

Apparently there is a study going on in Australia involving children being banded.It will be very interesting to see what the results are.Personally the kids out there are generally alot bigger than when we were kids anyway,so the really chubby ones are even fatter than the fat kids when we were kids.I totally agree with banding children,however it should be done on individual bases and medical reasons only.Kids are also maturing alot earlier too.It's scarey when I see young people bigger than myself now....(.2 marriages and 4 kids later) what will these kids turn out like without intervention.

I feel honesty...that anyone under the age of 20 shouldn't be banded. That being said its important to note that I do not have any children & if I did I may be whistling a completely different tune. But this is where I stand for now in my life.

I think its such a huge last resort. I do not feel that at the early age of lets say 16 or even 18 that they could have possibly tried everything under the sun-for the proper length of time. We are such a quick fix society & truely need tremendous change on how we care for our youth. But banding them is not the answer in my opinion.

Lets take away their buses & have paid group leaders to walk those within a mile to school.(lol-but seriously, not a bad idea-save gas & buses) I know that isn't reasonable, necessarly, I know its not- But crap if we could just add more activity & less "screen time" we could be more successful.

Have you seen the recent "the more you know" commercial. Its promoting a mandatory 1 hr of physical activity a day MIN. for children. If they are very heavy than make it 2 hrs everyday. If they are so over weight that they can't do regular stuff, well find something they can do. Habits are formed at early ages & most of the time I think successful when followed through w/a support group.

I think its more unhealthy in the long run to undergo surgery, than it would be to set guidelines & mandatory rules. If they can't follow the rules their support system(parents) sets up -- How can we expect them to follow the rules a band surgeon sets up?

I do fell that in particular circumstances, WLS for someone young that had life severe threatening problems is a great alternative. But a last one at that.

To all of you that disagree with me, I say thank you . If we all had the same thoughts & feelings & opinions what a boring world this would be;0) Not to mention conflict can & does create solutions most of the time.

Best of luck to those who are under 20 & struggling with your weight. I feel you have the endurance & the knowledge at your disposal & most importantly "Youth" on your side to over come your hurdels. I wish you well.

I feel honesty...that anyone under the age of 20 shouldn't be banded.

I think its such a huge last resort. I do not feel that at the early age of lets say 16 or even 18 that they could have possibly tried everything under the sun-for the proper length of time. We are such a quick fix society & truely need tremendous change on how we care for our youth. But banding them is not the answer in my opinion.

Amen Christina! I agree 100%.

I have 3 kido's - 2 are already showing signs of a tendency to becoming overweight. I will try anything and everything before considering WLS.

While I was reading Jenna original post, I thought the same thing... maybe age 20 I would consider my kids for this... but not sooner!

Although, if I had a 400lb 16 year old, I may change my mind (like Chrystal was saying).

I totally agree with this being a quik fix world.

I believe 75% of all over weight people have head issuses. The other 25% make honestly bad food choices. I personally have a lot of knowlegde of good nutrition and excersise. I just can't seem to apply it.

These young kids need help emotionally, mentally and physically. If I had this kind of help when I was young I wouldn't be where I am today. We need to ask WHY is this 12yr old so heavy? My own DD was having eatting issues. She would eat just 'cause it "tasted good". I realized I was putting my problems on her Telling her to not eat this or that

cause it'll make her fat, or "do you want to be fat like me". All she needed was for me to back off, give her an extra hug. I made sure she did active things like softball, bike riding and now she's 11yr old and loves to skateboard. And eats only till satisfied. I need to be more like her!

I think A to Z needs to be done for these young people before their given the message that FOOD alone is making them fat. As a parent it's your responsibilty to help them. Not hand them over to someone eles to fix. Their going to be left with a silicone band to hug away their REAL problems?

I would refuse to band any one under 20yrs.

If I had a 400lb 16 yr old, I'd turn my self in for child abuse. Letting your child get that heavy IS abuse. The parents must need help, too.

Dr. Horgan at MIBC in Chicago is doing the FDA testing for ages 14 to 18. It is not approved as of yet but they say it will be soon.~Mandy

Well, I may be a minority, but I believe for the severe MO it should be allowed. I have a neice who is 17 and weighs over 300 and her life is miserable, at school and no social life.

She is a smart, straight A student, has a job, and hates life. I think it should be based strictly on a per person basis. If they're mature enough to handle the restrictions and the change of lifestyle.

There are some very large teenagers around who could start enjoying a thinner self now and enjoy their thinner life longer. Again, it depends on the person's maturity. I'd much rather see them do this surgery than the bypass.

How different my life would have been if I had had the opportunity to be banded at 16.

I would not have had a lifetime of self doubt and loathing. I would have been happier with myself.

I'm not sure what different roads I would have taken, but I can imagine that a whole new world would have been opened up to me.

The teeanage years are trying and troubling enough, let alone if you're trying to go through them MO. Gastric ByPass for teenagers? No way. But the Lap Band? Heck yeah! If it was that easy to eat right and exercise, none of us would be on this board. Why expect our children to do something we couldn't? We certainly don't want them eating twinkies in the bathroom!

I agree with everyone who says that banding teenagers should be a last resort. I can't imagine a doctor who would feel any differently. And when it comes to RNY, I don't think that should be performed on anyone under 21, EVER, FOR ANY REASON. The band exists, so use that if necessary!! It's adjustable, removable, and works to do exactly what the person needs--teach new eating habits.

It's very easy to say that the parents should just do something different. Of COURSE parents have a great deal of responsibility when young children become obese, but after a point there's not much they can do. I have a 15-y.o. stepson who is 6'3" and probably pushing 300 lbs. He does nothing physical, never has, and now I can't imagine any way we or his mother could make him change his ways. We could blame his mother for not insisting on physical activity when he was younger, but it's too late for that. And as we all know, starting to get physically active when you're that big is frustrating and difficult.

When he's with us, he doesn't overeat or even eat the wrong things, but what he eats is largely within his own control. He's been willing to skip meals altogether if we're not serving what he wants--he's only with us one day a week. He wasn't fat as a small child, so it's certainly possible he'll be able to get control of this on his own as he gets older. If he were to express an interest in being banded, I'd want to know what else he's tried (probably nothing) and steer him in the direction of taking responsibility for his own habits.

I think it's too simplistic a theory that fat kids automatically have other problems, and fixing those problems will fix the fat. That certainly may be true for some, but it's not always the case. And we can't force teenagers to change their ways.

If they are ready to lose the weight they will have asked for help already. If they've gotten that far, tried, failed, and need more help, banding could be appropriate for kids in dire straits.

Bottom line, I think it depends on the situation. And banding has the beauty of being, as I said, adjustable and removable so it's more way more appropriate for young people than any other kind of WLS.

Absolutely, I think it should be case by case. But I think parents need more parenting skills too. I understand that there are medical complications that make people gain weight too. It is just too common these days that parents have no clue what their preteen or teen is doing/eating/going/etc. I know that I may have a tight leash on my child age 12 but I also know that he is eating healthy, exercising and being a generally good kid. I think parents should be more aware of eating habits, where they go (are they junking food at the theatre?), WHO they hang around with, etc. If a person is 400lbs at age 16 I think we need to look at the parent for not doing their job first, then try and fix the problem through education and information.

But recently I saw one post about a 12 year old getting banded and I was APALLED!

But I agree, band before bypass for sure!

A 12 year old, I can't imagine a circumstance that would allow for that age to be banded. It sounds like the parent took the easy out or was a very pompassssssed parent. There are some parents who can't deal with the idea of having an overweight child, it might embarrass the family.

My son is very close to my starting weight of 270. Child abuse? Neglect? No way. But if my son doesn't want to do something, there is no force on the face of this earth that will make him do what he doesn't want to do. He's even more stubborn than me!

People in my family are very dense (in more way than one I suppose.) Drop us in a pool of Water and we sink like a stone. Yes, he is over weight, but he's built like a football player. (good thing, since he played football until he transfered to his new school. My son is very strong--he leg presses something like 1200 pounds and lifts over 400 pounds. When I was an athlete I weighed 190 pounds. I was doing serious work outs--4-5 hours a day 5 days a week, and I could bench press 300 pounds. I was also a size 12 and I thought I was fat because the scales said I was fat.

I know that many people have posted their experiences where they would eat all the food they could get their hands on, eating a dozen candy bars in a sitting, and other secret eating. I don't know that there is anyway parents can stop this sort of behavior on their own.

When I was in high school we had to walk a mile to the bus stop. I think this was probably good for me. I think that our schools need to have better PE programs, with interesting programs. (Gawd how I hated that full semester of field hocky!)

My daughter is 11 and overweight. I started her on a weight loss program a couple of weeks before I had my surgery. She meets monthly with a nutritionist, medical dr and a shrink. She lost 7 lbs the 1st month. She really didnt do any strict dieting, we stopped going to dunkin donuts everyday. The Drs at her program were concerned that she lost too much weight. They really dont want her "dieting" just making healthy choices.

Since we are both dieting at the same time, its much easier. We dont have any junk food at home, (now that I threw out the rest of the Easter candy).

If she is still obese at 18-20 I would definately bring her in to get banded. I have spent my whole life overweight, and I would hate for her be overweight her whole life too.

My older daughter's (21) is overweight too. Her weight goes up and down. She once lost 25 lbs by giving up soda and McDonalds. She doenst have any health ins. When she gets a full time job with ins, she may get banded. I will support her 100%.

Patty

Hows getting banded going to help kids who sneak food? Or kids who only eat what they want to eat? And hows the parent banding a 400lb kid going to help, when they didn't know how to kept the kid from getting so over weight in the first place?

How does the band help any of us?

There are plenty of us here who are MO inspite our parents best intentions. Or perhaps despite their intentions.