Am I a Candidate for Bariatric Surgery?

That depends.

Treatments for obesity depend on a lot of factors: your level of obesity, you’re your overall health is and how ready you are to lose weight. You might be a candidate if you weigh more than 100 pounds over your ideal body weight, or if you either score a 40 on the BMI, or if you score a 35 to 40 and you have a serious additional health condition, like Type 2 diabetes or heart disease.

A good start is to take a two-step approach: Figure out your Body Mass Index and then talk to your doctor.

The Body Mass Index (BMI) uses your height and weight to estimate your BMI, which is used to assess overweight and obesity and monitor changes in body weight.  It is calculated by dividing a person’s weight in pounds by height in inches, squared.

Here’s an example. A BMI for a man who is 6-feet-tall and who weighs 151 is a 20, which is normal. Increasing the weight to 197 is a 26, which is overweight; to 242 is a 33, which is obese and to 302 is a 41, which is extreme obesity.

We also ask that you weigh no more than 450 pounds, although we do evaluate people on an individual basis. We also have a plan for preoperative weight loss to help you reach a safer weight.

Are you a candidate? You might be, as long as you recognize that this is major surgery and will require a commitment on your part.

Every day.

For the rest of your life.