Should Britain give Free Surgery to the Overweight?

Should Britain give Free Surgery to the Overweight?

According to a recent front page article in “The Daily Express” the number of British people receiving free obesity surgery at taxpayers’ expense has risen by a massive 785%  between 2003 and 2009.  This immediately brings three fundamental questions to our mind. Firstly, is the treatment absolutely necessary? Secondly how has obesity been allowed to rise so dramatically in our society? Thirdly should British taxpayers be paying for it?

 Is the treatment necessary?
The frightening headline figure comes from an online study by the British Medical Journal  which revealed that in 2003-4 there were 480 operations for obesity whilst in 2008-9 there were 4,246 operations which ranged from removal of part of the stomach to gastric bands and stomach stapling. According to the National Obesity Forum spokeswoman, Tam Fry, doctors are too quick to go into surgery without insisting that patients seek lifestyle changes first. Perhaps she is right, after all it is just too easy and convenient a solution for both doctor and patient to make a diagnosis and then solve the problem directly through some sort of surgery. Furthermore, isn’t surgery a rather drastic solution to what is fundamentally a simple and avoidable problem?

Why has the level of obesity risen so much?
In Britain you just have to go to the average supermarket to see how the shelves are stacked full of unhealthy fat laden products placed at just the right height with the right offers to tempt even the healthiest eaters. And even if you somehow avoid all those tempting offers and enticing images on the shelves there is another trap waiting for you in the shape of chocolate bars waiting to ensnare you as you wait by the till.
But where does the British love affair with chocolate and sweets come from? Maybe in part it is a hang on from colonial days when Britain imported vast quantities of sugar from its former colonies. But what about today? Certainly the shops themselves have a lot to answer for because they emphasise profit over helping customers to make healthier choices. Moreover, the food producers themselves are also to blame when so-called healthy low-fat options are often laden with such large quantities of sugar; very often there is no real “healthy option” available.
Lifestyle, of course, is perhaps the most crucial factor. In our fast eat, fast food society far too little importance is given to maintaining a healthy lifestyle. Entire families seem to live off takeaways and ready meals as families are reluctant to or simply don’t have the time, knowledge or energy to cook. In addition nowadays more and more people seem to spend their spare time in front of the ever multiplying choice of TV channels or else perched in front of their computer adopting an increasingly sedentary lifestyle. Perhaps the self-styled health guru “doctor” Gillian McKeith was not too far off the mark with her shock treatment programs such as “Honey, We’re Killing the Kids” and “You are What You Eat”.  It is striking how obesity seems to run in families from one generation to the next, and overweight people, as well as suffering from a poor self-image, face a future plagued by a variety of health problems, a lack of personal stamina and ultimately an early death. Maybe those sweets and chocolates in the supermarkets should be kept behind the counter and contain a health warning “eating this could seriously damage your health”.

Should taxpayers pay for this treatment? 
Certain doctors and surgeons would claim that the surgery is an important intervention to prevent patients from dying or ending up in long term hospital care, and certainly no one would like to see unnecessary suffering of this kind. But surgery itself is not easy on the patient or their family, is potentially harmful, and is not in any case guaranteed to cure the problem.
In addition many people feel that they are already paying a lot of money out simply because overweight people are not helping themselves. The obese suffer more than their share of medical ailments and so are a burden on the NHS especially when hospitals may have to buy in expensive specialised beds and other equipment necessary to accommodate the needs of overweight patients. There is a channel of thought which logically considers that if people want this kind of surgery and are not in immediate danger then it should either be carried out privately or not at all.

So what is the way forward?
As a society we can no longer afford to take the easy option and turn a blind eye to the problem of obesity. Better education is needed for primary schools and beyond; after all what is required is no less than a complete culture change. TV chef Jamie Oliver has bravely led the way in his single handed efforts to introduce healthy food in schools and in his localised campaigns focusing on teaching people to cook better dishes. But more could and needs to be done because obesity is a problem that affects us all, if not directly then certainly through our pockets.

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