2023-05-03 12:58:22
“We see that those figures are rising considerably,” Smits agrees. In America they have been struggling for some time with a growing group of overweight children. But “Europe is also starting to participate,” says the plastic surgeon. “That is no longer a bit too heavy, it really makes them sick.”
The burger company
According to Smits, the fact that overweight is due to the ‘hamburger society’, as Ruud describes it, is not correct. “You have to take certain things to put on weight. It also has to do with lifestyle within a family,” she explains. But bad, fat and a lot of food is not the only factor. “A very large part is genetic, predisposition and environment. So you can’t always do something about it, which is of course very annoying.”
According to the doctor, some children are simply born too heavy. “In America you see that they are treated with lifestyle advice from the age of 2. Some babies are just very big and everything they take in is converted into fat.”
Surgery as a last resort
Children in the Netherlands with obesity can now also undergo surgery. “These are young children aged 12 to 17,” says Smits about the study that is being conducted into this operation on minors. “They now want to treat them as they used to do with adults. It’s back to the wall.”
But not all children qualify. “When it comes to operating, you have to be very selective,” emphasizes Smits. “It is really for those who have tried everything and who have also been treated there with a whole team. So psychologically there should be no more issues.”
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