A decade-long study reveals that adolescents who received weight-loss surgery significantly maintained reduced BMI and improved major health markers, such as diabetes and hypertension, 10 years post-surgery.
These health gains significantly surpass those observed in adults, highlighting the effectiveness of early surgical intervention in combating severe obesity and its related conditions.
Long-Term Benefits of Early Bariatric Surgery
Young people with severe obesity who had weight-loss surgery at age 19 or younger experienced lasting health benefits, including significant weight loss and improvement in common obesity-related conditions, even 10 years after surgery, according to a large clinical study funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Participants in the study, with an average age of 17 at the time of surgery, underwent either gastric bypass or sleeve gastrectomy. A decade later, they maintained an average 20% reduction in body mass index (BMI), with type 2 diabetes reduced by 55%, hypertension by 57%, and abnormal cholesterol levels by 54%. Both types of surgery showed similar outcomes.
Comparing Outcomes With Adults
The 55% reduction in type 2 diabetes among these young participants was much higher than observed in adults who had weight-loss surgery, where reductions averaged 18% at seven years and 12.7% at 12 years, according to a recent NIH-funded study.
Type 2 diabetes tends to progress more rapidly when it occurs in young people, and these findings demonstrate the greater health benefits and durability of bariatric surgery in youth than would be expected in similarly treated adults.
Reference: “Ten-year Outcomes Following Adolescent Bariatric Surgery” by Ryder, Justin et al., 30 October 2024, New England Journal of Medicine.
DOI: 10.1056/NEJMc2404054
The study, known as Teen Longitudinal Assessment of Bariatric Surgery (Teen LABS), was supported by NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) through grants DK072493, DK072493, DK095710 and NIH’s National Center for Research Resources and the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences Clinical and Translational Science Awards Program grants TR000077 and TR000114.