Obese need gastric banding: report

Gastric banding rates have soared in recent years. Source: Supplied

Report - Average weight loss years later is 25 kilos
Former patient calls for public funding
"No way could I have afforded it"

GASTRIC banding surgery is a long-term solution to Australia's obesity crisis, a new report suggests, but it's out of reach for many of the people who need it.

Research by a Monash University team has found the surgery, which reduces your appetite, can help morbidly obese people maintain a substantially lower weight in the long term.

The study found patients who had surgery more than a decade ago managed to maintain an average weight loss of more than 25 kilos.

"These results show that when you have a significant problem with obesity, a long-term solution is available," said research head Professor Paul O'Brien.

But the same report found more than half of gastric band patients required follow-up surgery, with those who have experienced it saying it's a last resort treatment.

Prof O'Brien, who strongly supports the surgery, said people who are affected the most by the condition – those on lower incomes – do not have adequate access to it in public hospitals.

"Some hospitals are quite good but most are very bad," he said. "You're not looking after a very vulnerable group of people."

While surgery may seem expensive (with prices typically more than $10,000), Prof O'Brien said gastric banding is long term a much cheaper option for society, as it reduces the risk of patients contracting illnesses like Type II diabetes and heart disease that are a huge burden on the health system.

"There's a lot of people who think 'why don't they just stop eating and it won't be a problem?'. That's a naive and totally unsupported view," Professor O'Brien said.

The operation, which can be carried out in just a few hours, is covered under Medicare only if you are morbidly obese and have the procedure performed privately.

Melanie Tait, ABC broadcaster and author of Fat Chance: My Big Fat Gastric Banding Adventure, had to take out a bank loan to purchase her $17,000 surgery in 2008.

Five years and thirty kilos later, she has only just managed to pay off the loan.

"No way could I have afforded it if I was living in Housing Commission in the western suburbs of Sydney and on a single parent's pension," Ms Tait told News.com.au. "I think it should be funded publically."

She said the experience had given her a lot more confidence, the incentive to exercise, and she is "a lot healthier" now.

But worrying about food is still part of her life, particularly foods like ice cream that still 'go down well'.

While she says some foods do 'stick' in the band, other 'bad' foods can easily be digested, meaning people who have had the surgery can still eat a large quantity without feeling sick.

"It's absolutely not an easy thing having a gastric band, in any way,"she said. "It doesn't mean weight's just going to come off, you still have to work with it."

Susie Burrell, a Sydney nutritionist who has worked with lap band patients for seven years, said patients need a combination of diet and exercise to be healthy.

"It's a possible part of the solution," she said. "[But] eventually people still need to make a lifestyle change."

"It's simply an option that may suit a certain group of people."

A Government commissioned report for the federal Minister for Health last year suggested that bariatric surgery (including gastric banding) is "more cost effective in the long-term than non-surgical interventions".

A spokeswoman said that report is currently being considered by the Health Department.

JUST THE FACTS:

1 in 4 Aussies are obese
Gastric banding clamps the stomach to reduce appetite
Follow-up operations are common
Surgery typically takes around 3 hours
Gastric bands are an adjustable and reversible method

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