Bariatrics facts for kids

Bariatrics is the part of medicine that deals with obesity. Bariatrics includes using dieting, exercise, changing people's habits, drugs, and surgery to help people lose weight.

More and more people are becoming overweight or obese. People with a high body mass index (BMI) are much more likely to have certain health problems. These include heart disease, diabetes, many types of cancer, asthma, sleep apnea, and problems with muscles and bones. Obese people are also more likely to die.

Diet, exercise, changing people's habits, and drugs are tried first to help people lose weight. People who have weight loss surgery usually lose more weight than those who try the other ways. The surgery also helps reduce diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes. With each patient, doctors might use some or all of the methods, depending on what they think would work best for that patient.