Very overweight children will be allowed to have stomach stapling surgery on the UK National Health Service as guidelines are being reviewed on this practice by the governments health authorities. The National Institute for Health noted that children who have reached puberty may be allowed to have the operation if they are very obese. The regulations previously only allowed those who were minimum 18 years of age to have the stomach surgery.

The new guidelines which are still being discussed also are considering the possibility that very obese children over the age of 12 are allowed to be prescribed anti obesity drugs like Xenical and Reductil. They may even consider a provision in the guidelines to allow even younger children to take the weight loss drugs in exceptional circumstances. Recent government surveys are showing that government targets which stated that child obesity must stop rising by 2010 are likely to be missed. From the years 1995 to 2003 childhood obesity increased by over 4% to 13.7%

Stomach stapling is not cheap at an average cost of £6,000 but doctors say that over the long term the government and the NHS save money due the savings on future health care related to obesity such as diabetes and cardio problems. It has been known for surgeons to ignore the present guidelines and do stomach stapling operations anyway. In fact two recent cases involved a fourteen year old boy and a sixteen year old girl, who were at risk of serious health problems in the near future. Surgery can be the only resort for children in some cases who can't lose weight by dieting or exercising.

Others are of the opinion that more drastic health education is needed and that prevention is better than cure when it come to obesity. Many people argue that more publicly funded health and nutrition campaigns are needed and that schools should be included in the campaigns. In the last 3 years the the number of stomach stapling operations have risen by almost 100%.