Hanan Al-Ghamdi, a consultant in liver and pancreatic surgery, organ and endoscopic transplantation at King Fahd University Hospital, confirmed in the news that obesity is a scourge of the age and that the Kingdom occupies an advanced position in the increase in obesity cases worldwide, especially among children, and that the percentage is increasing and reaches approximately 25% among children and more than 35 Approximately% of adults in the Kingdom.
She said that there is an increase in the rates of obesity rates in the Kingdom, according to the United Nations, if compared to previous years, and that the rates of demand for operations for patients who suffer from obesity are increasing and the waiting lists are long and the number reaches more than 200 people.
Regarding the youngest patient suffering from obesity, Al-Ghamdi said, an operation was performed for a 13-year-old child weighing 145 kilograms and suffering from other health problems, including diabetes, and it is the approach that the department follows to conduct operations for those suffering from other diseases due to obesity such as sugar, pressure and cholesterol to rid them of these diseases, especially in children With a diet and diet for them, and different weights of obesity are presented to the department, there are cases of overweight obesity, and these come to the hospital in a critical condition, which is initially monitored and subjected to a specific diet and diet until their weight is lost and then operations are performed for them, and the highest weight is overweight With obesity, he underwent an operation, he weighed 220 kilograms, and the oldest age who had an operation was at the age of 70, and he weighed 140 kilograms, and he had other health problems and was recovering.
Dr. Al-Ghamdi indicated that in the hospital’s surgery department, we do not perform obesity operations directly, especially with children, as it is the last solution. In the beginning, we subject the child to a specific diet with the diet, educate the child''s family health and make sure that there are no other health problems such as hormonal problems and others, and when necessary and useless The program prepared for the child and the child''s inability to lose weight with the presence of other diseases, we are forced to perform a small and simple operation such as a narrowing of the stomach, and the program prepared for the child and his family takes time in follow-up, education and monitoring, and after the completion of the process for the child is followed up and educating the family so that the child does not relapse, so we try to change The diet that he follows is to a healthy and ideal system. The processes that take place for obesity if not accompanied by follow-up and changes in the diet, behavior and exercise of the patient will cause another setback and the patient returns to obesity again.
Regarding the causes of obesity, Dr. Al-Ghamdi said one of the most important of them is the weakness of the health education of the community, the lack of focus on the importance of a healthy diet, the lack of facilities for practicing sports and the hot atmosphere, in addition to our methods, food habits, and social communication, whether in wedding or family events, and exaggerated and unhealthy home tables in ion and lack of education in this The side are all reasons that increase our obesity.
Regarding the programs provided by the department in raising awareness and counseling in this aspect, Al-Ghamdi said that we care about patients and their families and provide paragraphs and programs of advice and guidance, whether through our health educator and a nutritionist in the hospital or through the doctor himself who follows up on patients'' cases to clarify the causes of the disease and its consequences and what will be followed up for him In the hospital, and we aspire more, as those interested in this aspect, that there will be a tendency to pay more attention to such a disease at the level of the Kingdom in general, because the problem of obesity has become a social problem, and if the problem at the present time is not number one, it will soon become the number one problem, because obesity can be controlled. In a complete and simple way, it can be canceled by means and methods that are not difficult, so the beginning is always with the emergence of understanding the basis and through them such a disease is controlled. I touched upon the issue of controlling the food provided, whether in restaurants, schools or others, and it is weak and does not rise to the size of the increase in our obesity rates as well as ready-made meals, whether in stores. There is no definition or health alert written on the food product that shows the quantities of calories Or the percentage of fats or sugars in it, or health advisory warnings for the product, and if any, they are found in a foreign language that not everyone knows
She emphasized that the percentage of treatment in relation to the size of the problem with regard to obesity does not exceed approximately 1% of the size of the problem, so there must be a change in dealing with obesity cases, and this comes with everyone coming together to inform, educate, educate and others, requesting the concerned authorities to develop a comprehensive plan adopted by the state at all levels that takes care of the problem and tries to solve it With the participation of stakeholders.
