Surgical obesity treatment ‘has many benefits’

Surgical obesity treatment is the right option for some people even if they would prefer to lose weight naturally, a medical professional has suggested.

Dr David Ashton, a spokesperson for Healthier Weight, claimed that for seriously obese children and young adults, surgery is the only effective way of treating the condition in the long term.

He commented that many people see surgery as a form of cheating in order to lose weight, but he observed that it might be different if surgical procedures were explained properly to children.

Mr Ashton explained: “The currently available non-surgical treatment options just don’t work. This leads to a sense of failure, lack of self-worth, social isolation and depression.”

His comments were made following research by Carnegie Weight Management, which indicated that 61 per cent of clinically obese children would reject surgery as a form of losing weight.

The risks involved in such surgery are very small, added Mr Ashton.