All of the following are directly from http://www.bariatric-surgery.info/statistics.htm
According to current statistical surveys, United States obesity rates continue to maintain very high levels, with 11-15 million Americans estimated to be morbidly obese. According to a March report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity may become the leading cause of mortality in the United States by 2005, with a death toll of 500,000 per year. As a result, statistics on bariatric weight reduction operations like gastric banding, gastric bypass and variants of these stomach surgeries show that demand for weight loss surgery is soaring. In 2002, the number of bariatric procedures jumped 40%, to 80,000. In 2003 statistics from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) show that the number of surgeries exceeded 120,000 in 2003.
Statistics on Weight Loss Surgery
In the United States, 20,000 weight-loss operations were performed in 1995
In 2003, 103,000 were performed
In 2004, 144,00 are predicted to be performed
The number of gastric bypass surgeries climbed more than 600% from 1993 to 2003.
The average bariatric surgery patient is a woman in her late 30s who weighs approximately 300 pounds.
The average cost of the surgery is $30,000
Statistics on Weight Loss Surgery for Teenagers and Adolescents
There are no precise statistical figures for the number of bariatric procedures performed on teenage or adolescent patients, although cases of this type of stomach surgery are on the increase. Statistics on under-18 patients will demonstrate how serious the incidence of morbid obesity is among young people.
Statistics on Hospital Stays for Bariatrics
The average post-operative hospital stay was significantly longer for operations performed in 1986-1989 when compared to those in 1998-2001: 5.0 days compared to 3.9 days. One factor which may be reducing hospitalization is the increasing use of laparoscopic surgical techniques that reduce recovery times.
Statistics on Weight Loss Surgeons
The number of active surgeons in the American Society for Bariatric Surgery jumped nearly 500 percent, from 168 in 1993 to 860 in 2003.
