A recent Australian study found that gastric banding surgery offered significant weight loss in obese teens, when compared to lifestyle interventions that have been advised so far to keep weight under check. This study, published in the February issue of Journal of American Medical Association (JAMA), suggested that patients undergoing laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding lost more than 50 percent of excess weight and experienced greater benefits to health and quality of life compared to those in an intensive lifestyle management program.
Adolescent obesity is a serious global health challenge and is associated with both immediate and late health effects and reduced life expectancy. More than 17.4%, or 5 million, U.S. teens are obese.
The study, conducted at Monash University and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, tracked 50 severely obese teens aged 14 to 18 over two years between May 2005 and September 2008. Half the participants were given the gastric banding surgery, involving a silicon clamp that shrinks the stomach and reduces appetite, while the control group was just kept on strict diet. The adolescents given the surgery were found to lose, on average, more than 10 times the weight of the other group — 35 kilograms (77 pounds) each, compared to three kilograms.
More About The Study: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100209182400.htm
Written by Snigdha Taduri for Biomed-ME