Obesity surgery for 34st teenager
A teenage girl who weighs 34st has undergone radical stomach surgery in a bid to save her life.
The 16-year-old - who is said to abuse food "in the same way others abuse tobacco and alcohol" - may be the youngest person in Britain to undergo gastric band surgery.
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The procedure involves placing a band around the upper part of the stomach, limiting food consumption.
Former television presenter Anne Diamond recently had one of the devices fitted. She revealed that she wrote a letter to her children before the operation as she feared she would die.
The latest operation was a success and the teenager, from the west of Scotland, is said to be recovering well.
The surgery was carried out by David Galloway, a consultant surgeon at Gartnavel Hospital in Glasgow. He said last night the girl had reached 34st purely through overeating.
He said: "People of this weight only get to that stage by taking in huge amounts of calories. They eat in the same way as others abuse tobacco or alcohol."
The girl had a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 60 - twice the score of 30 which is the threshold for being classified as obese.
Surgeons are said to be considering making greater use of such radical surgery on adolescents as Britain's obesity crisis deepens.
Dr Colin Waine, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, said: "There is now no doubt obesity is the biggest silent killer of modern times, causing cancers and heart disease - but Ministers are not doing nearly enough to combat the problems."
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