Cutting Out the Flab ; Bariatric Surgery Restricts the Intake of Food by Shrinking the Stomach or by Food Malabsorption. It's the New Treatment for the Morbidly Obese.

Summary

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Whether it was in buses or in cinema theatres, Javed Ebrahim Kochra always found it difficult to fit in, thanks to his obese frame. For years he was resigned to his 172 kg weight and the ailments accompanying it-blaming it on his genes and family history- till he attended a support group for overweight and obese people. Says Kochra: "Before I attended the support group I used to feel embarrassed about my weight and size, but at the group I realised that this was a medical problem which could be treated through surgical intervention."

Statistics show that Kochra is merely one amongst India's burgeoning count of obese people-a population that stands at 150 million, a good 15 per cent of the country's total population. Obesity is often termed as a silent killer as most people don't consider it a disease in itself and treat only the ailments that accompany it. Caused by erratic lifestyle, genetic conditions or hormonal and complex psychological factors, obesity requires a multi- pronged corrective action. More so with women, as according to psychiatrist Dr Sharita Shah, one of the causes of obesity amongst women is mental stress due to which they keep munching on food to find solace.

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Cutting Out the Flab ; Bariatric Surgery Restricts the Intake of Food by Shrinking the Stomach or by Food Malabsorption. It's the New Treatment for the Morbidly Obese.

Children and adolescents, too, are increasingly falling prey to the disease. Sedentary lifestyle and regular consumption of junk food are some of the factors responsible for the increasing number of overweight adolescents. A study conducted by the Obesity Surgery Society of India (OSSI) in leading public schools across the country shows that 30 per cent of students are obese.

Dr Pradeep Chowbey, chairman of Minimal Access Surgery and Bariatric Centre at Sir Gangaram Hospital in Delhi and president of OSSI, says: "Our experience shows that a majority of these...

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