GOOD HEALTH
Mail Today, Tuesday, February 7, 2012
21
HEALTH
CORBIS
SURGERY
AS LAST
RESORT
BARIATRIC surgery was the
last option for 13 year old
Parsila Jan because she had
a very feeble chance of losing
weight by diet and exercise
alone. This Afghani girl
weighed 135 kgs and underwent bariatric surgery at a
city hospital recently. “She
was morbidly obese and that
led to abnormal stress and
deformities in her bones and
joints. We decided to do
bariatric surgery on her followed by another procedure
for her knee problem,” says
Dr Atul N C Peters, Director
of Advanced Laparoscopic
and Bariatric Surgery,
Primus Super Specialty hospital. She was genetically
predisposed to obesity and
her eating habits triggered her condition.
Parsila has joined
An extra
the list of growing
10 kg can lead
number of fat
teenagers opting for
a person to
bariatric surgeries.
lose
3 years
“The number of
of her life
obese teenagers
seeking this procedure is on the rise. Of
the 50 cases of bariatric surgeries done every month, at
least 10 are teenagers,” says
Dr Pradeep Chowbey, vice
chairman, Max healthcare
and Director, Bariatric
health risks when these surSurgery.
geries are done in teen girls.
Bariatric surgeries aren’t
They face the risk of menadvisable for those below 18
strual irregularities. In some
unless the situation of obecases it could also result in
sity is health-threatening.
difficulty in absorbtion of
Doctors also warn that
important nutrients such as
bariatric surgeries are not
folic acid and vitamin B9,”
cosmetic procedures and
says Dr Loveleena Nadir,
should be seen as a last
consultant gynaecologist,
choice. “There are certain
Fortis hospital.
Cutting portion
size is his objective
SHEKHAR YADAV
WEIGHING 94 kgs at the
age of 18 created many setbacks for Varun Bansal. “My
first love rejected me
because I was overweight. I
realised that being fat was
not a frivolous issue but a
serious one instead, with
many implications,” he says.
Though the relationship didn’t work out, he walked away
with a health warning.
Varun made several lifestyle
changes. Yoga classes
became a daily feature and
he also cut back on food.
“Yoga became integral to my
life. It helped me lose weight
and deal with my emotional
turmoil too,” he says. Four
years later, this 22 year old is
a fit young man who weighs
75 kgs.
Yoga sessions in combination with a strict regime of
walk and diet have helped
him get into shape. His diet
consisted of two glasses of
milk with corn flakes in the
morning, followed by a session of fruits. Lunch was two
YOGA HELPED HIM
GET IN SHAPE
chappatis and dal and he
would repeat it for dinner
too. Since he was a sugar
addict, he gave up sweets
altogether for that three year
period.
“My family helped me to
lose weight, especially my
mother. She understood my
needs and made sure that
she cooked with less oil,”
says Varun.
“In Varun’s case, binge eating was to blame for those
extra pounds. So doing the
right combination of yoga
asanas like suryanamaskar helped. Asanas
are prescribed based on
what the trigger for
obesity in each person
is,” says his yoga trainer,
Zubin Atre.
AFTER
in the three months. “I eat
HE IS only 13 years old but
what my mother gives me
weighs 75 kgs already. Until
which is generally dal, roti and
three months ago, being oversabzi. I eat less chips and
weight didn’t matter. Teasing
fries,” he says. The changes
friends and classmates didn’t
have been slow, to avoid a
have any impact. What finally
sense of deprivation from
struck were his father’s condeveloping. “We did not cut his
stant reminders. “ He told me
food intake overnight. Each
that if I want to enjoy my
time I shop for groceries, I buy
favourite foods of chowmein
fewer packaged products
and momos, I would need
like chips and maggi,”
to cut down on the
says Surjeet Saini, his
amount I ate,” says
mother. Now, cookAshish.
To
avoid
a
ing at the Sainis
This was no easy
sense of depri- means less oil. This
task. “It has been
apart, Ashish now
a big struggle for
vation, the
goes for regular
him. He still does
changes made walks with his famgive in to temptaily members. “Even
were slow
tion but it is more
if we are unable to
in control now,” says
accompany him, he
his father Ujagar Saini.
sets off on his own,” she
Binge eating is responsisays. The initial weight loss has
ble for Ashish’s obesity and his
spurred Ashish on. “I jog for at
parents are working on helpleast an hour in the evening
ing their child improve his
and play . It’s more fun to lose
diet. Ashish’s efforts to cut
weight this way compared to a
back are paying off, as he has
strict diet,” he says.
come down from 80 kgs to 75