The benefits of weight loss are measured in more ways than just waist size. A healthy weight also improves overall health and quality of life. If you’re overweight, you increase your risk for many health conditions. Getting down to a healthy weight can stave off those dangerous health conditions and put you back where you belong. It’s never too late to make a healthy change — just think how you could be living. If being overweight ever becomes a part of your life that you can’t seem to conquer, we can help you make a change. Patients who choose bariatric surgery to help them lose weight can achieve long-lasting weight loss. Here you’ll find important facts about obesity and bariatric surgery.
Facts about obesity
- Approximately 15 million Americans have life-threatening obesity
- Life-threatening obesity is defined as 100 pounds above ideal body weight or a BMI (body mass index) greater than 40
- America is the heaviest nation in the world
- 25 percent of U.S. children are overweight
- Patients with life-threatening obesity die an average of 12-15 years earlier than people of normal weight
Patients with life-threatening obesity suffer from multiple medical conditions that affect nearly every organ system in their body, including:
- Type II diabetes
- High blood pressure
- Elevated cholesterol
- Arthritis
- Depression
- Cardiac disease
Facts about weight loss surgery
- Bariatric surgery is the cure for life-threatening obesity
- Patients choose bariatric surgery to live longer, healthier lives
- Bariatric surgery is a tool to help patients lose weight
- Bariatric patients succeed when they are a part of a comprehensive program that provides lifelong follow-up, dietician support, support groups, and exercise specialist services
- Bariatric surgery requires a major, lifelong commitment to changing diet and behavior
- The risks of bariatric surgery are far less than the risk of living with life-threatening obesity
- Diet and exercise alone have shown long-term effectiveness in only 5 percent of patients
- Bariatric surgery provides long-lasting weight loss
- Successful weight loss from bariatric surgery can eliminate other medical conditions in patients
- This successful weight loss translates into lower healthcare costs, more productive workers, and patients who "have been reborn"
Get started today
Learn more about bariatric surgery, schedule an appointment with a weight loss specialist.
