Endocrine Insider
March 5, 2009

On March 3, The Washington Post published The Endocrine Society’s Letter to the Editor in response to a February 24 article titled, “A Boy's Obesity Led His Mother to Send Him For Stomach Surgery.” The article discusses the factors that lead children to seek weight-loss surgery and the medical implications that must be considered by physicians and families in deciding to follow through with the surgery.

The Society’s response stressed the need for more long-term research in adolescents who have undergone bariatric surgery. In the letter, Society President Robert M. Carey, MD, states, “To date, not enough outcome data are available to know whether teenagers are affected in the same way as adults.” Using recommendations from the Society’s clinical practice guideline Prevention and Treatment of Pediatric Obesity as a resource, the letter also addresses the importance of making lifestyle modifications before and after surgery. The guideline emphasizes the importance of decreased calorie intake and increased physical activity in order to prevent and treat pediatric obesity. It also identifies bariatric surgery as a last resort in teenagers and underscores the need for a patient to commit to a long-term lifestyle adjustment for the surgery’s success.

Because of the increasing prevalence of bariatric surgery among obese individuals of all ages, the Society is developing a clinical practice guideline specifically on the subject. The guideline will be published later this year and will be presented at the Society’s annual meeting in June.