After feeling like she had exhausted her weight-loss options, Sabrina came to Children's National to achieve her goal of a healthier lifestyle.
At Children’s National Hospital, our Bariatric Surgery Program performs weight-loss surgery for children and adolescents and provides a range of support services to help your family achieve a healthier lifestyle.
Childhood obesity is a complex condition that dramatically increases the risk of other serious health problems, such as diabetes, disability, heart disease and mental health issues. If your child has tried different weight-loss methods without success, weight-loss surgery is a treatment option that can help children and adolescents achieve better health when combined with lifestyle changes.
We know that weight-loss surgery is not a decision you and your child are making lightly. Together with your family, Children's National helps to create a strong support system to help patients come to an informed decision, make the important lifestyle changes, and even adjust their new bodies after weight loss surgery. Highlights of our program include:
At Children’s National, we provide children and adolescents with a safe, effective surgery and successful outcome. After a year, our patients lose an average of 70-100 pounds (sometimes more). In addition to maintaining a healthy weight, bariatric surgery reduces the risk of developing other diseases.
If you are considering weight-loss surgery for your child or teenager, we recommend that you talk to one of our pediatric surgical specialists. We also recommend you do the weight-loss surgery earlier rather than later since children will continue to gain weight as they grow, lessening the benefits of the surgery.
Learn more about:
You may be wondering if your child is a candidate for bariatric surgery. Candidates must meet these requirements:
We perform mainly two types of weight-loss surgeries for children:
Our pediatric surgeons have years of experience in performing bariatric surgery. In addition, we are among the nation’s top experts in the field, training other pediatric surgeons around the country in weight-loss surgery for children. We are also extensively involved in research, analyzing tissue from our patients to gain a better understanding of childhood obesity with the goal of personalizing treatment for each patient.
The program’s multidisciplinary team includes many different pediatric specialists, working together to ensure your child’s safe and successful outcome. Our team includes:
Meet the team.
For more information about the Bariatric Surgery Program, please call 202-476-2151. To make an appointment with the Bariatric Surgery Program, please call 202-476-2150. For urgent assistance outside of business hours, please call 202-476-5000.
Maria was the first patient to have weight-loss surgery at Children's National. With its multidisciplinary approach, a team developed a personalized plan for the teenager.
Evan Nadler Director, Child and Adolescent Weight-loss Surgery Program Co-Director, Obesity Program
Christy Bock Clinical Dietitian
Sarah Hornack Psychologist
Eleanor Mackey Associate Director, Training in Professional PsychologyPsychologist
Caitlin Sherman Coordinator, Bariatric Surgery ProgramNurse Practitioner