Teen obesity, use of surgery as treatment, growing

Richard Brian

Dr. James Lau, chief of bariatric surgery at University Medical Center, speaks with Jennifer Cox, a teen who overcame obesity.

By Jeff Pope (contact)

Thursday, March 26, 2009 | midnight

Like a growing number of American teenagers, Jennifer Cox struggled with her weight.

The 18-year-old senior at Odyssey Charter School said she was inactive and eating helped her cope with the stress in her life. Another part of the problem was the eating habits she learned from her mother and stepfather.

"They ate out all the time. Everything horrible for your body, they ate," Cox said. "I definitely picked up those habits of theirs."

With obesity rates among American teenagers tripling in the past three decades, researchers are blaming parents for contributing to their children's expanding waistlines.

New findings from the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research show teens are more likely to emulate their parents' eating habits — both good and bad. The study showed that children of parents who drink soda pop are 40 percent more likely to drink it than teens of parents who do not. Likewise, teens whose parents eat the recommended daily supply of fruits and vegetables are 16 percent more likely to follow suit.

Cox also followed in the footsteps of her parents by getting bypass surgery in August, after several failed weight-loss programs. She was 17 years old at the time, making the surgery somewhat controversial.

Her surgeon, Dr. James Lau, said the medical community has mixed feelings about performing the procedure on minors. But Lau said Cox was an ideal candidate because her parents had the surgery before she did. They could be there to support her and help her change her eating habits to prevent a relapse, he said.

"The context of the weight loss has to be within the family," Lau said. "Most people under the age of 18 still live with family. So you may be able to take care of one individual, but they're still within an environment and you have to change the environment."

Lau has been with University Medical Center for five years and has performed about 200 gastric surgeries in Las Vegas and in Southern California, either by the bypass method or using the laparoscopic adjustable band.

As he did with Cox, Lau recommends patients alter their eating and grocery shopping habits before resorting to surgery, especially for juveniles.

Teenagers have an easier time changing their habits than middle-aged adults, but the long-term effects of childhood obesity are more severe, Lau said.

Overweight or obese youth have a greater risk of developing cardiovascular disease, sleep apnea, diabetes and asthma leading to shorter life spans, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Obesity in children aged 12 to 19 years increased from 5 percent in the late 1970s to 17.6 percent in this decade. About 34 percent of adults aged 20 and older have a body mass index of 30 or more, making them obese as defined by the CDC.

"It's the No. 1 health problem in America, in my opinion," Lau said. "The best way to prevent a heart attack or stroke now is not quitting smoking, it's actually decreasing your BMI below 30."

On the day Cox underwent her gastric bypass surgery, she weighed in at 291 pounds, putting her BMI north of 40.

She's lost 100 pounds since the surgery and her parents have seen significant weight loss, too. They've also started a healthy competition in trying to out-distance each other on their daily walks. Cox walks seven miles, just edging her stepfather by a half mile, she said.

"We push each other to keep getting out and getting active," she said. "I have a 5-year-old niece and I can run around with her and take her to the park. I wear her out more than she wears me out now."

Her friends have changed their eating habits because of her, opting for more nutritious choices when they dine out. Cox also has become an advocate for the patients in Lau's weight loss program at UMC.

She shares her experiences with patients contemplating surgery because it is a life-changing decision with emotional pitfalls, she said.

"People don't realize how much it changes your life," Cox said. "It's not just your eating habits and it's not just how you look at food and shopping and cooking, it's the way that you look at yourself and how other people view you and treat you."

Lau dismisses the idea that surgery is an easy route to weight loss. He recommends people diet and change their habits before considering surgery because the medical procedure will be more effective after people change their bad habits.

"It's just difficult for people to break the cycle once they're in it," he said.