Gastric bypass achieves sustained weight loss in severely obese teenagers, studies show

Gastric bypass surgery achieves dramatic weight loss in severely obese teenagers and helps them maintain a lower body weight for more than five years of follow-up but with high rates of nutritional deficiencies, show two studies providing long term data on the impact of obesity surgery in this age group.1 2

Around 30% of adolescents in the US and 22-25% in Europe are overweight or obese, and one in 20 children and adolescents in the US (6.3%) is severely obese—defined as having a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or over (around 100 lb (45 kg) overweight). Lifestyle modification and medical treatment have little effect in this …