UK obesity: Is diet or surgery the best cure?

With one in 30 of the UK population now classed as morbidly obese, the NHS is spending increasing amounts on weight-loss stomach surgery.

Figures released by the NHS Information Centre last week showed there had been a 30-fold increase in bariatric surgeries in a decade - up from 261 in 2000-01 to 8,087 in 2010-11.

While some NHS trusts continue to fund such surgeries for people with life-threatening obesity, others prefer to take a different approach.

In Leeds, teenager Emma Jane Money has recently undergone a gastric bypass operation.

She lost more than two stone in weight in the two weeks after the NHS paid for her to have the surgery at the private Thornbury hospital in Sheffield.

would you say diets best or surgery
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-17159683

Trouble is with that kind of operation, you can't eat normally ever again!
Its little meals like ruddy baby food ....

ive never had a weight problem so as you can imagine its hard for me to comment
i can go days without food so find it hard to understand people wo just keep eating,the wife is always on some diet or an other

Neither is effective. Dieting requires willpower and that in itself is a task. Surgery could lead to complications. But there is a solution, or few, that DO work and one of them is Ritalin. Ritalin is a supressant, that is also used for controlling ADHD in kids upto the age of 12-13, it surpresses the appetite so you don't feel the urge to eat unless you force yourself to eat. It worked with me when I was a kid, I could go HOURS without eating, and my mother used to catch teenage girls taking it in secondary school (she was on the board of governors). So if it worked 10 years ago then it should work now as nothing has changed to stop it.

whats the side effects though mate

Suppression is a side-effect of it. Ritalin is mainly used for ADHD control in kids upto the age of 12-13. Usually it's appetite suppression but that's all I know of it as I've not actually looked into it.

In my opinion taking drugs like Ritalin for weight loss would be irresponsible. The most effective way to lose weight is by changing your diet. ...........you lose weight and more importantly, it stays off and you get healthier while doing so. Ok it takes willpower but lets face it, so does a lot of stuff in life. If you want to lose it bad enough, you will find the will power. If you want to stop smoking bad enough, you will find the willpower.

I've been fighting the flab almost all of my adult life.................and I've tried all sorts of stupid diets. In my experience all of the quirky diets have side effects and the only time I succeeded was when I went to a slimming club and lost 5 stone. I felt so much healthier and the weight stayed off for a number of years. Recently I've put a bit back on but that's my own fault because I don't actually care what I eat and I'm not motivated enough to do anything about it at the moment....maybe one day. This doesn't mean you're dieting all your life (which some people tend to think). It just means you are aware of what you're eating and don't just stuff yourself willy nilly.

I would never at any time have considered putting myself through any kind of surgery for weight loss and I don't think the NHS should be funding this operation except in extreme cases. Nobody funded my slimming club fees............only me and it wasn't cheap because it took me two and a half years to lose all the excess weight and that amounted to a lot of money.

To get back to the Ritalin..............I'd be interested to know if there are any doctors who would prescribe this for weight loss.

I do agree that it's irresponbile but I only see it as a last resort as working out and going to the gym is something I'd suggest doing above anything else. I honestly don't think doctors would prescribe it though.

Eating smaller meals and excersise is the best way to lose weight..you can eat anything you want as long as you only eat a small sensible amount..we don't have to stuff our faces till we feel fit to burst.
It's getting your head around it that is the hard part, just as it is with stopping smoking.

I managed the smoking bit but I'm still getting my head around the greed bit! they are both addictions... I'm not obese by the way just a little too many extra lbs for my liking

A bit like meself Diane

Changing life styles will help & eating habits, more exercise also, get rid of flour & sugar too.

Quote :

I managed the smoking bit but I'm still getting my head around the greed bit! they are both addictions... I'm not obese by the way just a little too many extra lbs for my liking

I found that giving up smoking lead to eating more so I beat the smoking then tackled the extra eating.Hopefully now I have the balance right.

In a perfect world I guess diets would work for everyone, the problem is it's too easy to put a little more on the plate, or start on too much fat and sugar in the diet.. that butter tastes really nice on hot toast eh..

I think I'd prefer to stick to losing weight the old fashioned way if I could, cut out the fat, sugar and salt and eat a bit more veges, and put a zip on the mouth a bit sooner...

im naturally thin so how does diet help me?

Eating healthy is a lot better then surgery and would cost the NHS a lot less money which could be spent on better things

And Ritalin been use for weight lost is wrong I refused to even give it to my son who has ADHD as a tv program showed Ritalin can cause depression and some children ended been given uppers to stay awake at school and sleeping tablets to sleep at night so I changed his diet