Guinea pigs in the name of research
School boards are cutting time for gym class, and have already reduced recess to the point that kids can only go outside long enough for a whiff of fresh air before being hustled back inside.
And yet, we wonder why there’s a growing problem of obesity in children.
Fast food meals are super-sized; restaurants serve platters—not portions. And children are bombarded with television ads for the latest new snacks and sodas. And instead of walking or bicycling to school, more and more kids nowadays line up on the corner in the morning and spend up to an hour a day being hauled back and forth to school in a bus.
And still, we wonder why there’s a growing problem of obesity in children.
Mainstream medicine’s solution? Surgery.
Believe it or not (even I didn’t believe it at first!), a group of researchers have set up a five-year, taxpayer-funded study to determine the benefits and risks of bariatric surgery on adolescents. They’ve already enrolled 200 teenagers, and are setting their sights on cutting into them and finding out if there is any benefit to having the operation earlier in life as opposed to later in adulthood.
I guess I shouldn’t be so surprised. When so many kids today are on prescription drugs for medication, and the American Heart Association is recommending some get statins, then I shouldn’t be surprised that some would actually think it’s a good idea to staple the stomachs of overweight kids.
Here’s what everyone is missing in the big fat obesity surgery lie: You still have to learn how to eat properly and exercise.
It seems great that the pounds drop off seemingly overnight, but there is work involved in continuing to lose the weight, and then keeping it off. You need to learn portion control and you’ve got to exercise, or the weight will creep back on. Plus, the surgery has a whole host of side effects such as possible malnutrition, or vomiting from too many sugary foods.
These are the things the surgeons don’t advertise. It wouldn’t be good for business!
As a doctor, I can’t recommend surgery just because it’s available. And just because we have an epidemic of obesity in this country, I don’t think the solution lies at the point of a knife. Especially since you have to learn appropriate lifestyle measures post-surgery anyway! Shouldn’t that be where our focus is?
No one denies the health risks involved with being obese. But there are many less radical solutions: Reinstitute recess, put physical education up on a par with English and Math, and use those research dollars to set up community centers with fitness-oriented programs. That’s a start.
Remember, it’s taxpayer money funding this study, and we should have a say. And I say quit using American youths as guinea pigs.
