Pediatric Weight Loss Surgeries on the Rise but Still Under-utilized: Study

Nationally, pediatric weight loss surgeries increased from 2010 through 2017 in response to a childhood obesity epidemic. While obesity disproportionately affects Black, Hispanic and low socioeconomic groups, a study found patients who had metabolic and bariatric surgery were mostly older, female, white and privately insured. The study, “National Trends in Pediatric Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery: 2010-2017,” published in the December 2022 Pediatrics (published online Nov. 14), analyzed rates of metabolic and bariatric surgery among adolescents between the ages of 12-19 years provided by the National Inpatient Sample database. Metabolic and bariatric surgery as part of a multi-disciplinary approach has been found to be a safe and effective intervention for severe pediatric obesity, and the only treatment known to reverse obesity-related diseases including insulin resistance, hypertension and early renal disease. Between 2010 and 2017, the annual bariatric procedure rates increased from 2.29 to 4.62 per 100,000 but the procedure remains underutilized nationally, according to the study. In 2017-2018, the obesity prevalence for Hispanic and Black children ages 2-19 years was 25.6% and 24.2% compared to 16.1% in white children, according to research. The authors suggest further investigation into the racial and social determinants that limit access to pediatric weight loss surgery.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.