Obesity results from the excessive accumulation of fat that exceeds the body's skeletal and physical standards. Morbid obesity is a serious disease process in which the accumulation of fatty tissue on the body interferes with or injures the other bodily organs. This can cause serious and life-threatening health problems, which are known as co-morbidities.

Obesity can be due to endocrine disturbances, such as thyroid insufficiency and steroid excess, and if present should be treated. Usually obesity is due to mismatch between calorie intake and calorie used, especially in those with a genetic predisposition.

Imperial BMI Formula

The imperial BMI formula accepts weight measurements in pounds and height measurements in either inches or feet.

1 foot = 12 inches
inches² = inches* inches

Table: Imperial BMI Formula

BMI (kg/m²) = (weight in pounds * 703 ) / height in inches²

Metric Imperial BMI Formula

The metric BMI formula accepts weight measurements in kilograms and height measurements in either centimetres or metres.

1 metre = 100 cms
meters² = meters* meters

Table: Metric BMI Formula

BMI (kg/m²) = Weight in kilograms / height in meters²

The primary goal in managing and treating obesity is to decrease a patient's medical risk and improve quality of life. An appropriate weight management programme combines physical activity, diet, behavioural modification, psychological counselling and sometimes drug therapy to help patients achieve weight loss or prevent further weight gain. Surgery is reserved for patients who have repeatedly failed to lose weight by all other means (diet, exercise, behavioural and drug therapy) and this is the last resort. Surgical treatment is medically necessary because it is the only proven method of achieving long term weight control for the morbidly obese.

Weight loss will vary depending upon your weight prior to surgery. After your surgery, your choice of foods and level of activity will change. The majority of patients lose 60-80% of their excess body weight within two years of surgery.

Yes. It is a temporary problem. It usually occurs during the third through the eleventh months after surgery, the period of rapid weight loss. Hair typically returns fuller and richer than before.

Exercise can help, but if you lose an excessive amount of weight, more than likely you will have hanging skin. Often the skin returns, much as after pregnancy. Exercise is recommended to help tone the muscles, and the skin. Some patients want plastic surgery to help the problem areas.

Weight loss surgery, as stated previously, is only a tool that must be used to help control your weight. If you do not use the tool properly, you will regain some of the weight you lose. Weight loss surgery provides you an opportunity to change your lifestyle and eating habits, thus making weight control easier in the long run.

Your hospital stay will depend on the type of weight loss surgery you have. Generally, hospital stays are between 2-4 days.

Yes, but the number depends on your weight loss procedure. The gastric bypass (RYGB) procedures require a lifetime of vitamin supplementation - usually three supplements daily.

Regular exercise is extremely important for maintaining your weight. Your bariatric surgery team will help you with the types of exercise you should be doing, and how soon after surgery you should start doing them.

Your ability to resume pre-surgery levels of activity will vary according to your physical condition, the nature of the activity and the type of weight loss surgery you had. Most patients return to work and are able to exercise within one to three weeks after their surgery. Patients who have had an open procedure do so about six weeks after surgery.

It is strongly advised that women of childbearing age use the most effective forms of birth control during the first 16 to 24 months after weight loss surgery. The added demands pregnancy places on your body and the potential for foetal damage make this a most important requirement.

Although the short-term effects of weight loss surgery are well understood, there are still questions to be answered about the long-term effects on nutrition and body systems. Nutritional deficiencies that occur over the course of many years will need to be studied, and can depend on your diet after bariatric surgery. Over time, you will need periodic checks for anaemia (low red blood cell count) and Vitamin B12, folate and iron levels. Follow-up tests will be conducted at least yearly and more often as indicated.

The widespread use of support groups has provided weight loss surgery patients an excellent opportunity to discuss their various personal and professional issues. Most learn, for example, that weight loss surgery will not immediately resolve existing emotional issues or heal the years of damage that morbid obesity might have inflicted on their emotional well-being. Our surgeons have support groups at places to assist you with short-term and long-term questions and needs, including the most effective exercise and diets after bariatric surgery. Most bariatric surgeons who frequently perform weight loss surgery will tell you that ongoing post-surgical support helps produce the greatest level of success for their patients in their life after bariatric surgery.