Should obese kids have liposuction?
Keywords: obesity – liposuction – body contouring – dieting
We all love the easy way out – but is it right to get our children to learn the same values? Take obesity for example. While diet and exercise are the best ways to lose weight, we often choose liposuction, tummy tuck, or even gastric bypass surgery. There isn’t anything necessarily wrong with that if it is done when there is a reasonable medical case for it, but if you are using it as a substitute for working out, dieting, and making lifestyle changes, then it is not right.
So is liposuction the solution for childhood obesity?
The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) announced today that there is no scientific evidence to support the safety or efficacy of large-volume lipoplasty (liposuction) for weight loss in obese children. Further, the Society noted that liposuction is not an effective treatment for obesity in any patient – adult or child. The statement was issued in response to recent media reports of an obese 12-year old American female who underwent large-volume lipoplasty.
Clinical studies have demonstrated that (lipoplasty) does not have the same health benefits (e.g., reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes or benefits to metabolism) as diet and exercise. It does not address the important lifestyle and diet issues necessary for long term weight loss success. The best liposuction candidates are close to their ideal body weight and have discrete fat deposits that, when treated, will result in a positive change in contour, not obese patients looking for weight loss.
“This treatment plan sends a dangerous message to our young people, that plastic surgery is a cure for being overweight. That is simply not the case,” said J. Peter Rubin, MD, of the Aesthetic Society’s Body Contouring Committee and Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at University of Pittsburgh. “I would question the ability of a 12 year old girl to fully appreciate the scope of possible complications and make a reasonable decision about an elective cosmetic procedure.”
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