Weight loss should be a long, healthy process
An easy option for weight loss is often thought to be surgery, but not according to a top nutritionist.
New reports have revealed that the number of teenagers - some as young as 14 - having weight-loss sugery on the NHS has trebled in the past three years.
"Contary to popular opinion, losing weight after having a gastric band fitted is not quicker than dietary fast weight loss methods, and it is certainly not easier," says Holly Finnegan, nutritionist for Britain's fastest-growing weight loss organisation, All About Weight.
She explains that there can be very unpleasant side effects, and the patient has to completely change the way they eat and view food.
She continues: "Sadly this is not adequately emphasised, and far too many people who have been unsuccessful with dieting believe gastric banding is the only thing that can work for them."
These figures have revealed that the rise is occuring with people being fitted with a gastric band, having their stomach stapled, or having a gastric bypass.
They work by reducing the size of the patient's stomach, therefore limiting the amount of food they can eat.
Susan Ringwood, chief executive of eating disorder charity Beat, told Radio 1 Newsbeat, which obtained the figures: "Having a gastric band fitted is a very serious operation that has long-term, permanent consequences, yet we know young people are not always being given this information and that is very concerning.
Holly says that the problem is that a gastric band does not address the causes for a person's overeating or poor diet.
"There may be intial weight loss, but if a person gradually returns to their normal eating habits they will soon start to regain the lost weight. In fact, they could end up eating an even more fattening diet because with a gastric band it's easier to eat high energy junk foods than bulky, low calorie, health foods."
She pointed out that there is "no methos of weight loss that doesn't require some effort and behavioural changes from the individual."
A fail-safe to lose weight naturally is to gradually change one's attitude to food and establish a healthy eating pattern.
Obesity is a growing problem for Britain. Experts predict levels will nearly double in the next 20 years costing the NHS an extra £2 billion a year.
The last child obesity figures from 2008 found one in six boys and one in seven girls were obese, while a similar proportion were overweight.