Wales has a disproportionate number of young people with severe morbid obesity who are beyond the point of surgical help, one of Wales' leading doctors has warned. Professor Jon Barry, a consultant laparoscopic bariatric surgeon at Morriston Hospital in Swansea, described these adolescents as a "ticking time bomb" who are at high risk of 240 different obesity-related conditions.
Prof Barry said some of the young people he sees have a body mass index of 75 – three times what their weight should be. He added that areas of social deprivation are "carrying the burden" of ill-health in Wales due to the lack of access to green space, poor education, and the availability of high-calorie fast food.
However he warned that Wales is "far behind the curve" in terms of delivering on the obesity issue including the fact the country has no adolescent bariatric unit in Wales which results in young people being sent to London for treatment. He said the Welsh Institute of Metabolic and Obesity Surgery based in Morriston Hospital is the only unit of its kind offering bariatric surgery to adults in Wales.
