Mother lets daughter, 14, have gastric band!

Taz

Spam Hunter
I am just watching Loose Women and they have mentioned a news item about a mother who has let her 18stone daughter have a gastric band age just 14!

Surely at this age she should be learning to look after herself properly and being taught a healthy balanced diet rather than being taught that you can fix it with surgery?!

What do you guys think?
 
I'm sure there must be more to this story than a mother allowing her daughter to have a band... it's not like you can just waltz up to a hospital and have it fitted in a spare half an hour!

Maybe this girl has tried other ways to lose weight but they haven't worked. Or maybe she has a condition that makes it difficult for her to lose weight? Being big isn't always about eating the wrong kinds of food... some bigger people I know eat far healthier than some thinner people!

In any case it means that 14 year old will be able to do something about her weight whilst she is still young and not have to live with being bigger all her teen years.
 
Is this the same girl who was on GMTV yesterday?? if so they said she had been to SW and WW lost some weight then put it back on. Her mum had also had a band fitted (not at the same time as her daughter).

At least she can learn new healthier ways to eat while she young and has her whole life in front of her.

Am I right in thinking she can have the band removed when she s older??

I think it is something that would take a awful lot of consideration before doing it and probably one of those things that unless you are in that situation would be hard to know what you would do.

My daughter is 14yrs old luckily she is tall and slim (like her dad) so not something I have to worry about but given their situation who knows never say never.
 
I think they were on GMTV yesterday..... Mother had already had a similar op and knew it worked so was happy for daughter to have the same. They had the op in Belgium and Mother said they weren't told of any of the potential risks. Mother also said that the daughters GP didn't know they were going for the op, and probably still didn't know!

At 14 I would have thought there was still some hope that habits could be changed without resorting to such measures.
 
I agree. There is probably more to the story. She will still have to learn how to eat properly. I have many friends who have had the band surgery and found after losing a significant amount of weight, they actually started to gain weight back due to their bad eating habits. :(
 
I just had a look around the internet and it is not allowed in the UK for anyone under 18 to have the operation and, if it's the story I just read, they went to Belgium for the op. The mother says they tried other ways and the weight didn't come off but there are no underlying conditions.

I'm totally with Taz on this one. At 14 the girl can relearn her habits and her mother must have some sort of control over what the girl eats - at least in the house. I know I find it easier to keep an eye on what my son eats than what goes in my gob. I would hate myself if i didn't try and give him a healthy diet. It would be easier to give in and feed him c**p but I don't want him to end up the size I am.

I accept that for some people a gastric band is the way to go - but I'm fairly certain most adults who have had the op would rather have been helped when they were younger than have the op now.
 
Speaking as someone who has had a gastric band I can assure you all it is not a quick fix solution!
It was one of the hardest decisions I have ever had to make and the surgery alone is both scary and comes at a price (both financially and risky!)
Would I let my Daughter have one at 14? NO. At this age, the mother should be thinking of re-educating her Daughter's eating habits (Im saying this as I havent read all the story). However, as RM07 said, maybe there is more to this story than just a quick fix. It certainly wasnt for me.

Yes, I have done every diet under the sun, gained more weight than I care to mention.
 
Oh I totally agree that it's not a quick fix, my friend is having this done on the NHS and there are so many hoops she has to jump through to get it. I just wonder if a CHILD who has been taken to Belgium to have the proceedure (and possibly none of the councelling and dietician input that should go with it) will understand that it's not a quick fix? I agree with what was said on Loose Women, that the underlying cause of the gain may still not have been dealt with and if she had been using food as comfort what will she turn to next?

Not telling the GP that she has had this done is possibly a big mistake as there may be implications in the future
 
Not telling the GP here before they went is very irresponsible imo... I understood a gastric band to be one of the very last options for someone after they have tried other things first. At the very least the girls GP should have been informed to help her make an informed and supported decision. (Not saying her mother wasn't informed or supportive but having the band herself she may possibly be biased!)

 
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I think its wrong on every level. The fact that the Mum had one then the daughter speaks volumes and the daughter is only doing what the Mum did. If the Mum thought it was ok for her daughter to do then why didn't she consult the Dr ?
 
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