New research has found that anti-obesity surgery, such as lap band surgery, results in a “halo effect” on a patient’s family resulting in them losing weight as well.
Surgeons at Stanford University in California found that when one family member takes part in the surgery, which limits how much they eat, other obese adults in that household follow suit losing an average of 3.6kg over a year.
During the study, which looked at 50 family members of patients, it was also discovered that adult family members almost completely stopped drinking alcohol.
Whether they were obese or not, the average number of drinks consumed per person fell from 11.4 to 0.8 per month.
Bariatric surgeon Doctor Morton, who is an associate professor of surgery at Stanford School of Medicine, found that children were also affected, weighing less than they otherwise would have.
“Family members were able to lose weight comparable to being part of a medically controlled diet simply by accompanying the bariatric surgery patient to their pre- and post-operative visits,” he said.
Bariatric surgery either limits the amount of food that a person can eat at one time by creating a small pouch at the top of the stomach, or bypasses some of the small intestine to reduce the amount of nutrients the body can absorb, or a combination of the two.
Although some feel that it is an expensive way to tackle obesity, Dr Morton says this study showed each patient should be regarded as an “ambassador for good health”.
“You would have a huge, grassroots movement with bariatric surgery providing a vehicle for healthy change for patient and family alike,” he said.
“Obesity is a family disease and bariatric surgery sets the table for future, healthy family meals.”
The results of the study have been published in the journal Archives of Surgery.
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