Government splashes out £32 million on weight loss surgery per year

Weight loss surgery is costing the British government £32 million every year.

The startling figure was reported by the Daily Mail. The newspaper also revealed the results of a new study that is published in the British Medical Journal. The study shows that weight loss operations surged to 4,619 by June last year. This figure is a record high, and is almost double the number of operations of 2 years earlier.

Many experts warn that overweight people are opting for a ‘quick fix’. Tam Fry of the National Obesity Forum said: “It takes an age for a patient to slim down, but one flick of the surgeon's knife will address the problem.”

Celebrities who undergo weight loss surgery, such as Fern Britton, may be fuelling the trend. Britton shed more than 5 stone after having a gastric band fitted.

Gastric bands reduce stomach capacity, forcing patients to eat less. Gastric bypass operations also have this effect. Whilst these procedures were once a rarity, they are becoming increasingly popular and socially accepted.

The Daily Mail writes that some dieters are even deliberately putting on weight, in order to qualify for weight loss surgery. In the UK patients must be morbidly obese (i.e. have a body mass index, or BMI, of over 40) before they are eligible. A band can cost between £5,000 and £7,000, while gastric bypasses can cost between £8,000 and £14,000.

Lead researcher in the BMJ study, Omar Faiz, said that obese people should not see weight loss surgery as a quick fix. He told a reporter: “These procedures are treating various conditions associated with excess weight, such as diabetes, which means patients get a number of health benefits.”

Doctors advise that the most effective, and most natural, route to weight loss is a healthy diet and plenty of exercise.

Via : weightworld.co.uk