Obesity Operations Rise 70pc In A Year

by Stephen Adams ,  The Telegraph | 2011-02-24

The number of gastric band and gastric bypass - collectively known as bariatric surgery - rose from just over 4,200 to 7,214 last year, according to a report by the NHS's Health and Social Care Information Centre.

The majority of the operations, 80 per cent, were carried out on women.

It means the cost of bariatric surgery to the NHS in England rose from about £30 million to £50 million.

And the overall number of people admitted to hospital because of obesity also rose, by 30 per cent, from 7,988 to 10,571. Over the last decade this number has increased 10-fold, from 979 in 1999/00.