3 years old morbidly obese boy Aansh Patel from Saurashtra is perhaps the youngest child to be operated for Bariatric surgery in India. The surgery was done by Dr. Mahendra Narwaria and his expert team of Asian Bariatrics Hospital at Surya Mother and Child Hospital, Mumbai on 13th September,2016. Parents of the child sought help of doctors when the child started putting on weight & gained 17 kg in last 1 year.Aansh’s birth weight was 4 kg and he grew up healthy for 2 years like every other child. He was a very active, intelligent and full of life, says Aansh’s Father. We saw a drastic change in his weight and dietary habits, where he could eat all day without feeling full, that was when we thought of seeking an endocrinologist. The child weighed 37 kg with a Body mass Index (BMI) 90th percentile on growth chart & the laboratory reports notified a rare case of Leptin resistance in the body. He also complained of snoring and difficulty in breathing during sleep. Later, when the parents failed controlling his weight, they decided to opt for Bariatric procedure.
Sharing details of the surgery, Dr. Mahendra Narwaria , Chief Bariatric Surgeon and Director, Asian Bariatrics said “The prevalence of obesity among children is on the rise in India. Cases like this where surgery is opted as a last resort are warning for parents who ignore their child’s health by pampering them. Not all the parents are aware of the situation, but in Aarsh's case, it was different as his parents brought him to our hospital when they sensed something abnormal in his eating habits and weight gain. After thorough investigations, we decided to operate Aansh last week. Within a week he has lost 2 kg and has shown reduction to obesity related complications. This suggests that he is responding well to the treatment”.
“Right now the parents are being counseled by our team of nutritionist with regards to the patients diet and lifestyle modification, as post operations it matters a lot in the long run, ”added Dr. Sanjay Patolia, Director, Asian Bariatrics.
In India, the prevalence of obesity has shown an increase of 50% in last two decades and with this the number of obese adults having obesity repercussions like Cardio vascular disease, thyroid, diabetes, sleep apnea are sure to go up.
Not the first of its kind at Asian Bariatrics, but this time its the youngest child to be operated for Bariatric Procedure. We have done 6 such cases in the past 3 years, Said Mr. Rajiv Bhattacharya, CEO-Asian Bariatrics Hospital.