The Price of Prosperity?

For a nation like India, economic progress is obviously a wonderful thing. A country once largely associated in the West with searing poverty and frequent famine, has become the nation we associate with a high-tech, Bollywood entertainment, and a massive outsourcing industry. However, obesity has emerged as a serious problem in India's increasingly bustling and well-developed cities. Just as you can find bariatric surgery in Simi Valley/Thousand Oaks at our offices, you can also now find it in New Delhi and other cities in the massive nation.

According to an article appearing in today's Washington Post, some 18,000 East Indians had the surgery last year, up 500 from the year before. Also, three government ministers have followed the lead of countless American notables and obtained a weight loss procedure. While it's not clear from the article whether the latest operations, such as sleeve gastrectomy, have taken hold, there certainly seems to be little sign that obesity will not expand to U.S.-like proportions as the successfully developing nation continues to grow beyond a third-world economy.

This begs an interesting question that is of special interest to us here at University Bariatrics. While weight loss surgeries are becoming ever more safe and effective, is there a way to stop obesity before it starts as nations grow more affluent and high-calorie foods become ever cheaper? Other than educating parents on ways to prevent childhood obesity, we don't have any grand answers. If anyone out there has any thoughts we'd love to hear from you.