| "PFLUGERVILLE, Texas - At age 12, Brooke Bates was miserable, a 5-foot-5, 220-pound sixth grader tired of classmates calling her "fatso" and of diets that didn't work." "A year later, she's down to around 170 pounds and is thrilled with her new body and the changes she and her parents say it's made in her life." ""The kids don't make fun of me anymore. I can walk down the halls and actually wear skirts," she said. "I'm not ashamed of my body anymore."" "It might seem like a success story at a time when childhood obesity is increasing across the U.S. But most in the medical community hope others don't follow the same pound-shedding path: liposuction, a surgical procedure more often used to shape flabby thighs." "After her surgeries in spring 2006, two national organizations representing plastic surgeons issued statements opposing use of liposuction for weight loss and questioning the long-term health benefits." ""What is out of the ordinary here is the age of the patient and the fact that the liposuction is essentially a treatment for her obesity," Dr. Foad Nahai, president of the American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery told the Associated Press in a recent interview." ""In a 12-year-old, the treatment of obesity is not liposuction. It's not a tummy tuck. It's a lifestyle change. It's counseling. It's dieting. It's exercise," said Nahai, a plastic surgeon in Atlanta." "Despite the criticism, Joey and Cindy Bates are convinced liposuction was the right choice for their daughter, who never seemed to be able to shed her extra pounds through diet and exercise." "Brooke first approached her parents about liposuction after watching a television program on the procedure. They were skeptical, but her father agreed to take her to an Austin plastic surgeon who treated him after he was injured in a car accident." "Dr. Robert Ersek was dubious at first, and recommended to Joey Bates that his daughter change her diet and get more exercise. "He said, 'She's been doing that for years,"' the doctor said." "Ersek removed about 30 pounds during a March 2006 liposuction surgery, in which fat is vacuumed from the body. A tummy tuck a couple months later removed another 10 pounds. Since then she has lost about 20 pounds through diet and exercise, but gained back about 10." "Teenagers account for only about 2 percent of the liposuction surgeries performed last year, according to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons." ""I think that the idea of a teenager having major surgery for a weight problem has caused some concern among certain people," said Dr. Roxanne Guy, the
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