Eating tells the story of two morbidly obese American teenage girls who are about to risk everything, even dying, in a desperate bid to transform their lives.

The cameras follow the teens as they prepare for potentially life-threatening surgery and reveals the background and reasons for their decision to take this drastic step. The programme witnesses Laura and Victoria as they undergo surgery and as they begin to deal with both the emotional and physical impact on them and their families.

At just thirteen, Laura Broach already weighs 24 stone and is one of the youngest American children ever to be recommended for gastric bypass surgery.

Fourteen-year-old Victoria Jordan weighs 19 stone. Her mother is paying $25,000 for Victoria to have a gastric band fitted around her stomach.

Obesity surgery has never been more popular in America and last year nearly a quarter of a million adults went under the knife. British doctors are now calling for more surgery for obese kids in Britain, but how much can we really know about the long term dangers to children like Laura and Victoria?

Laura lives with her mum Leslie and her younger sister Kaitlin. Apart from going to school, she rarely leaves home and prefers spending time on the internet talking in chat rooms: “Well, I like talking to guys, like boys on the internet because they can’t see me. I don’t tell them my weight or anything, just, brown hair, brown eyes and tall and tanned – that’s all.”

Laura’s obesity is beginning to affect her health, and she has been recommended for a gastric bypass at the Children’s hospital in Birmingham, Alabama.

Dr Mac Harmon who is treating Laura describes the operation: “The route Y gastric bypass is disconnecting most of the stomach from the stomach, creating a small gastric pouch that’s about the size of an egg. The operation is not an experiment, it has been around a long time but applying it in a younger person is new. And I tell every patient this is high-risk surgery.”

Around one in every 150 adult patients dies as a result of bypass surgery.
Even if she survives surgery, about 99 per cent of Laura’s stomach will be permanently cut off and she will never be able to eat normally again.

Laura is in the final year of elementary school. She is the largest child in the school and she has been bullied because of her size.

She tells the programme: “I do think kids are cruel and can be cruel and like, start calling you names. There are some hurtful names.”

Laura has also developed a potentially fatal condition – sleep apnoea. At night her windpipe is choked by the fat around her neck. She has to wear a mask while she sleeps that pumps air into her to lungs.

Dr Harman says: “This certainly can get worse and worse. There are certain examples of people, young people who are otherwise healthy people, who have sleep apnoea who have died in the middle of the night.”

Laura’s aunt has genuine concerns about Laura’s operation. She had the same surgery more than four years ago, and has lost more than seven stone, but this came at a price. She is lactose intolerant and suffers with anaemia. She tells the programme: “After one year, my iron was very low and I had to have an iron infusion. You have to take your calcium every day and your vitamins everyday. Everybody thinks it’s a miracle. It’s not going to be a miracle. It’s a very good tool if you use it right – but if you don’t use it right you can become very unhealthy. I don’t think I could have done it at 13. I just hope she’s ready. I really am worried about her.”

Laura’s family has a history of obesity. Her mother reveals: “Both my parents were obese. My two brothers were obese. I am, off and on.” Her brother Gary died from obesity related heart disease. He was just 52 years old.

The programme follows Laura as she arrives at hospital for her operation. She is nervous about the procedure, with good reason – gastric bypass surgery has one of the highest fatality rates for any non emergency procedure.

14-year-old Victoria Jordan is a popular straight A student but despite years of dieting her weight has continued to increase and she’s now a size 22.

Victoria says: “I don’t like my stomach and my thighs are large – I think at the end I’d hope to be a size 10, I think that would be perfect.”

The documentary films Victoria when she is just two days away from her gastric band operation. In preparation she’s been told to avoid unhealthy food. Which means a trip to the local baseball game is full of dangerous temptation.

Victoria describes her feelings: “It’s a little difficult just knowing that you can’t eat everything, normally my favourite would be a hotdog loaded down with ketchup and mustard and a large coke and either vanilla or chocolate ice-cream.”

She says: “I think it’s hard to stay slim because there’s just so many places and options that it’s really easy to get food. You can just go out any time of the night or day and get something and at the movies they don’t serve healthy stuff or wherever kids go there’s not really a healthy option.”

Victoria is an only child, her dad Greg has been away with the military in Iraq and her mum Kelly has struggled to control Victoria’s eating.

When asked who is responsible for Victoria’s weight issues, her mother says: “It’s mine, it’s her father’s. I mean, we put the food in front of her and allowed her to make choices on her own that we probably should have put a stop to or said no to earlier.”

Victoria recently took up volleyball and despite her size she’s managed to make the school team.

Victoria: “I just fell in love with it and at first I was a little sceptical on whether I’d be good enough to compete with the girls that had been playing their whole lives. I just kind of found my niche and what I’m good at and I love doing it.”

When Victoria arrives at the hospital for her operation her mother asks if she still wants to go through with the procedure, and tells Victoria, “We can walk away right now.”

Victoria tells her: “I’m good, I’m going to go through with it.”

The gastric band operation that Victoria is having is less destructive than the gastric bypass but the surgery itself is still complicated. Victoria’s stomach is left intact and an inflatable silicon band is inserted in to her abdomen and wrapped around her stomach.

Her surgeon Dr Wulken tells the programme: “How the band is going to work is it is going to leave a little pouch at the end of the stomach. When this pouch up top is full, she’ll feel full.

He reveals: “I do imagine a time, possibly, when we might consider putting a band on a younger child. I’ve seen six year olds that weigh 100 pounds. There’s plenty of evidence that earlier intervention actually is better. Firstly the kids do better with the surgery than adults because they don’t have long standing heart disease and high blood pressure and diabetes and secondly it’s better to prevent a complication then to try to have to reverse it.”

Laura and Victoria survive their surgery, but for both of them the real battle is just starting.

For the first three months after her gastric band operation Victoria will only be able to eat small portions of pureed food.

Victoria is back at home and tells the programme: “Success would be my goal of 100 pounds. I’m kind of looking a year from now, how much different and how much weight I will have lost. It’s kind of motivating, just to think about it.”

Laura is also home and her family have gathered together to celebrate her return from the hospital. But she is having problems coming to terms with her new diet.
She reveals: “I just don’t want to eat food anymore. Ever since I had the operation it really changed how I feel about food.”

Bypass patients often lose their appetite and Laura will have to force herself to eat protein, vitamins and supplements. Failure to do so could be catastrophic and Laura could face a range of consequences, from hair loss to muscle paralysis and even death.

The programme revisits Laura and Victoria six months after their surgery. Both have achieved dramatic weight loss, but has it been worth the risks?

Source: ITV.com

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