Fight against the bulgeThe number of people having stomach surgery as a ‘quick fix’ to beat obesity has increased by 41 per cent, it was revealed.
Gastric bypass operations were performed on 3,459 people in 2006/07 – up from 2,448 the previous year, according to the NHS.
The procedure was performed most in Hull and East Yorkshire, where 207 people battling the bulge went under the knife.
After the figures were announced in the Commons, shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley said: ‘These figures reflectthe human and financial cost of obesity. Gastric bypass surgery is a last-ditch solution and the number of operations will continue to rise sharply in the future unless we do a lot more to encourage people to be more active and eat more healthily.
‘The government is failing on reducing obesity, which is sadly unsurprising given that public health budgets and dedicated staff have… Read the full story