The national poll conducted by the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital found that while there is no standard age for weight-loss surgeries such as gastric bypass, lap-ban, and gastric sleeve, less than one-third of parents surveyed though it should be an option for kids under 18.
Most parents surveyed in the U-M poll said they prefer teens under 18 join a weight loss program for at least a year before considering surgery - six months longer than the minimum time generally required by doctors.
That U-M poll was released the same day another study found gastric bypass surgery was even more effective at reducing heart disease in teens, than adults.
The topic of weight-loss surgery as an option for younger adolescent has come up more frequently as concerns over childhood obesity have grown with some reports showing at least 1 in 5 kids can now be considered obese.
National data shows 64 percent of U.S. adults overweight, one-third being obese, and 15 percent of children ages 6-19 are overweight - triple to proportion in 1980.
Dr. Paul Kemmeter, medical director of Saint Mary's Health Care weight management program, said adolescent bariatric surgery does not exist in Grand Rapids.
In part, Kemmeter said, because most health insurance companies do not cover it so the surgery is typically paid for only as part of a research study. But mainly, he said, because it remains controversial.
Kemmeter said while bariatric surgery is performed on adolescents in some parts of the country, most programs still follow 1991 guidelines from the National Institute of Health.
Those NIH recommendations say weight-loss surgery is suitable for individuals over 18 who have a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 40 or 35, other conditions such as diabetes, have made previous attempts at weight-loss, and are psychologically able to tolerate the surgery.
"Those (recommendations) pretty much have held true for the past two decades," Kemmeter said.
With teens, there is a real concern about intervening before their bodies have finished growing he said.
That's why weight-loss surgery is usually only considered on an individualized basis in obese teens between the ages of 15- to 17-years-old whose health has been significantly threatened, he said. And, usually only after X-rays have shown they have stopped growing.
"We're talking about kids that have crossed the line into morbidly obese and are literally shortening their life spans with (high blood pressure), sleep apnea, and adult onset diabetes," he said.
For the vast majority of obese kids, surgery is not something to consider, he said.
"The real question is why are our kids now getting obese when 40 years ago it was less common," he said. "It has to be more than just genetics, if it was just genetics it would take a much longer time to see these rates."
Kemmeter said for the most part obesity in young people needs to be tackled with public policy initiatives that emphasize behavioral changes in eating and activity, like First Lady Michelle Obama's "Let's Move!" campaign aimed at eliminating childhood obesity.
The U-M poll comes a little over a month after The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) - an umbrella organization of more than 200 diabetes associations in more than 160 countries – formally advocated bariatric surgery be considered as a treatment option for eligible patients with Type 2 diabetes.
The U-M poll also found black and Hispanic parents were more likely than white parents to consider weight-loss for younger teens. And,13 percent of parents surveyed felt bariatric surgery should not be an option at any age – including 1 in 5 Black parents.
Conducted in January, the U-M survey randomly polled a stratified group of 1,551 U.S. parents weighted to reflect Census Bureau population figures. The poll had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 to 9 percentage point.