Pediatricians are recommending and calling for increased accessibility of weight loss surgery for children and teens with severe obesity.
In its first-ever policy statement on surgical treatments for children and teens with severe obesity, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommended metabolic and bariatric surgery as a safe treatment option. The AAP also believes that these surgeries should be covered by insurance for young people.
The policy statement was published in the medical journal Pediatrics on Sunday.
Co-author Dr. Kirk Reichard, surgical director of the Bariatric Surgery Program at Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children in Delaware, said: "This policy statement focuses more upon acceptance of -- and access to -- appropriate care than anything else. Right now there's a lot of variability in what's paid for. There are certain plans that simply consider bariatric surgery under the age of 18 as experimental, which means they're not going to be covered."
Reichard added: "This policy statement specifically says that there's no specific age guideline. Furthermore, we recognize that severe obesity in children disproportionally affects racial and ethnic minorities, and the economically disadvantaged, especially for girls."
According to Avery Feinstein, who underwent a gastrectomy in 2018 at the age of 18 to treat her severe obesity, the new AAP recommendations were "awesome" and she hopes that more people would become aware of adolescent bariatric surgery.
"It changed my life and it's cool that they're going to try to help other people change their lives too at a young age. It's helped me so much with who I am now. If I did that in older age, I would miss my college years, living like how I am now and having the best time of my life," Feinstein said.
The surgery allowed her to lose 70% of her excess body weight, which led to the resolution of her other health issues.
In the US, one out of five children and adolescents are currently suffering from obesity, which can increase the risk for various illnesses, including diabetes, heart disease, stroke, arthritis, breathing problems and certain cancers.
