PLENARY SESSION
Friday, June 14th, 2013 - 8:15 am – 10:10 am
INNOVATIONS IN BARIATRIC CARE
Co-Chairs: Drs. Alfons Pomp, Tony Chetty
Canadian Room

9:15 am - 9:35 am
Weighing in: Is it ethical to perform bariatric surgery in children and adolescents?

The use of bariatric surgery in the treatment of adolescents with obesity and obesity-related co-morbidities has progressively increased over the past decade. The support for a more aggressive treatment for a select group of adolescents comes from the knowledge that obese adolescents are likely to remain obese as adults, and that obesity-related co-morbidities are reduced after bariatric surgery. Despite the increase in adolescent bariatric surgery, with reports of surgery conducted on children as young as 5 years old, long-term effects of the procedures are still not known.  Ethical issues related to performing bariatric surgery in the pediatric age group, along with unique selection issues for this population will be discussed.

Learning Objectives :

Jill Hamilton, MD, MSc, FRCPC

Dr. Hamilton is a Pediatric Endocrinologist at the Hospital for Sick Children, Senior Associate Scientist at the Research Institute, and Associate Professor of Paediatrics at University of Toronto.  Her clinical work is in endocrinology and diabetes with a particular focus in the areas of complex obesity (including hypothalamic obesity and bariatric surgery patients), She is the medical director for lead SickKids Team Obesity Management Program (STOMP). Her research has focused on insulin resistance and pancreatic beta cell function and the metabolic complications of obesity in childhood. She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications and has received funding for her research from national agencies including Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and Canadian Diabetes Association.