Gastric Banding

Abstract

The socioeconomic circumstances in the western nations, as well as the basic food situation have drastically changed in the second half of the last century. As a result of that, the prevalence rates of morbid obesity have increased rapidly. In some countries obesity has reached an epidemic magnitude meanwhile.

Obesity is a multifactorial entity with excessive aggregation of body fat leading to a general health damage. Basically, morbid obesity is defined as an imbalance between calory admission and the calory consumption. The causes for this imbalance usually differ from patient to patient. For an exact definition/classification and measurement of obesity, the body mass index (BMI) has been introduced. This BMI is calculated as weight divided by the square of height with kilograms per square meter (kg/m²). Due to the BMI, obesity is divided into three severity grades: A BMI of 30–35 is considered as grade I obesity, 35–40 as grade II and a BMI >40 as grade III.