I am happy to say that my daughter has lost weight since this first was posted.We have just kept her active and watched food portions.I will continue to help her keep going, it can be done without surgery.

My son is going to be 9 in a few days. He weighs 120 pounds and I am just now getting into the research on line to find out if he has an obsession with food and/or an obsession with eating. We started on this path with his weight when he was 3-4 years old.  We have seen a nutritionist and I know he was too young to even care or understand what the nutritionist talked to us about.  We have been to a doctor/psychiatrist supervised diet and exercise program.  All of these things have not helped at all.   Lately, it seems he is obsessed with food.  All he wants to do is eat and eat a lot.  We really keep him to 4 hours between meals and try our best to limit his food portions.  It is so hard.  He is active in sports, playing basketball right now.  It's said to hear that if he has a choice between two foods, he wants the one that is bigger, not necessarily what he is in the mood to eat.   I think he has a problem and it has not been identified yet.  I will say that he is an anxious child and is on a anti-depressant for anxiety.  So, we do see a counselor and psychiatrist.  This obsession with food has been going on for years and I am starting to get concerned.  When you sit him down and talk to him, he takes a huge defensive side (I would too at age 9) and pretty much shuts down and won't talk.  When we deny him food, he gets very very angry.  Of course, he does not care for many veggies or fruit which I know is our fault.   Just don't know what to do.  Any suggestions are appreciated. I too have a weight problem, had a Lap Band done 7 weeks ago.  I have made a little progress with him as far as eating goes, I've made ground turkey foods and he has liked it a lot. Thanks.

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This is really sad to here, I hope that after sending those other letters they do final Approve her. I am 15 (wont be 16 till sept.) and also have Pacific Care HMO, I already have done the 6 month Healthy Roads Program and am now taking the next steps in my Journey to WLS. I talk to Sabrina Every once in a while over myspace to get an update on how things are going but havnt' in a while. So not only am i sad for her but it definetly gives me a heads up for what i might have to deal with now. Well i hope the best for you all!  -Moddy

Hi everyone! I found this forum looking for a support group for my step-son.  He is 14 and weighs 205 at 6 feet 1 inch.......he's come a long way from when he first became "mine."  When he was 10 yr., he weighed 210 lb and was only 4 ft. 11 in.   I worked hard with him on diet and excercise and we attended family therapy as well....his bio-Mom abandonded him in an active drug addiction and I can only imagine what he was exposed to before I met him.  My sister in-law had surgery 3 years ago with the band---I do not know the details--but it popped about a 18 months ago and because she never changed her behaviors or addressed the underlying issues of her eating, she has rapidly gained weight again.  She is scheduled to have the band replaced in a couple of months and has really pulled the wool over the doctor's and psychologist's eyes....it's an absolute travesty but no amount of love we can give will make a difference until she decides to change herself.  My step-son is aware of and has watched the whole situation but does not relate at all because he is not currently "overweight" in his mind.  He is still needs to lose/re-shape a tube of fat below his waist and around his back above the hip line but will only exercise if forced.  I don't even know if he is aware of the stretch marks down the length of his sides and on his back.  But this is all physical and can be dealt with eventually.  My concern is that he exhibits classic addict behaviors (I know this from both personal and professsional experience) and continues to sneak food and binge anytime the opportunity presents itself.  He gains rapidly (15 lb in a mo. on summer trip with Grandma) when not strictly monitored and I am exhausted with the micro-managing......he will leave the nest in 3 years and I can't make him take the right choices.  At this point I suppose I should be grateful he hasn't developed other addictions but they can and typically are substituted for one another.  We can't shelter him forever and the intense emotional pain he has inside is only going to be dealt with when he decides he's willing to discuss it.  The therapist basically said as much and we worry that once he is introduced to alcohol or other drugs,  he will be quickly enveloped as the pain seemingly "just dissappears,"  expecially if he hasn't dealt with his eating by then.   I was looking for some kind of a 12 step OA program for teens but was told by our local group that there wasn't one but I could receive support to start one.  Unfortunately, I don't think my involvement would facilitate any kind of honest participation on his part as he is in compete denial due to simple teenage stages and lack of emotional maturity.  Most forums I've found are geared toward the surgery which he doesn't need at this point but I fear if left to his own devices with no usable "life tools" he will certainly end up on that path.  I love him dearly  but feel his Dad and I are knocking our heads against a wall.  I'm sorry I seem to have written a novel here but I love him so much and want so much for him in life but I feel like I'm watching a train wreck in slow motion.  If anyone out there has suggestions or is in or has a child who is in a similar situation, please share.  Medical technology is a wonderful thing but I'm hoping that it will never become the preferred alternative if we can put some kind of workable prevention out there.  Well, Happy New Year and best wishes to everyone! This is my first post and if the moderator chooses not to send it through, please give me some alternative resources----Thank you!!!