US obesity study
A study in the US has found many overweight children are already suffering from heart trouble and increased chances of developing diabetes.
Dr George Fielding of New York University Medical Centre says one in 15 children are obese enough to need a gastric band operation.
Gastric band operations involve installing a silicon band around the upper section of the stomach, which narrows the stomach and results in the patient feeling full.
Dr Fielding says even though the operation is designed for adults, most children who undergo the operation lose 60 per cent of their weight within the first year.
Despite the success rate of the operation, one in 300 adult patients ask to have the band removed so that they can return to old eating habits.
Childhood Obesity in the United States
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