Liposuction is commonly referred to as liposculpture, suction lipectomy (“suction-assisted fat removal”) or lipoplasty (“fat modeling”) and is a form of body contouring. To put it another way fat is removed from various parts of the body to help achieve a desired shape. Liposuction has been around since the 1960’s however it is only since the 1990’s that it has become increasingly popular|so incredibly popular. Before then the procedures utilized were less successful, and the results were mixed. It was in the 1990’s that ultrasound was introduced into the liposuction technique, which made it far less difficult to remove larger amounts of fat. This was achieved by first liquefying the fat.

It’s not uniquely women who seek the help of liposuction surgeons but men also. 20 years ago this was rarely, if ever, heard of, but in today’s society men are commonly having the very same beauty procedures as women. Men often wish to have specific areas of the body sculptured, for example, male breasts, abdomen and flanks, women usually wish to treat such such parts of the body as the thighs, abdomen and hips. Whatever place one chooses to have contoured it would be wise to be mindful that all cosmetic surgery has a few risks. Sadly there are negative aspects to having liposuction, if an extremely large amount of fat is removed, the area can sometimes be lumpy, or appear to have rifts in the skin.

One important aspect of liposuction, which must not be overlooked, is that it should never be used as an alternative to diet and exercise. There are large number of contraindications to liposuction and being dangerously overweight is one of them. An aesthetic surgeon will frequently refuse to operate on anybody who is morbidly or severely obese. This is not an act of discrimination, but justa medical decision based on proven facts. People who suffer from obesity are nearly always very unfit and generally not in good health, both of which cancels out one’s eligibility for the procedure. There are also risks with anesthesia if a person is overweight. The best candidates for liposuction are those folk who are in generally good shape and healthy, and who do not smoke tobacco.

Liposuction is performed either; using general anesthesia, local anesthesia with sedation, or local anesthesia, local anesthesia. At the start of the procedure the surgeon will make very small cuts in the skin at the areas where the offending fat is to be removed. Generally the fat is removed via a cannula and aspirator (a hollow tube and a suction device) During the surgery, several points are considered that can the amount of fat that can safely be removed. The safety issues are not only relate to the amount of fat extracted, but also to the total health of the person, and the choice of anesthesia used.

With obesity rates continuing to soar in the West it is perhaps not surprising that we are seeing a growing number of overweight children. Of course the effects of childhood obesity are all too obvious, but precisely what is it that causes childhood obesity?

The simple answer is that there is no one cause of child obesity and there are a variety of things which give rise to obesity in our children.

It is generally the case for instance that a child whose parents are overweight or obese will be overweight or obese which suggests that there may well be an inherited or genetic element to obesity. However, although this is an area that is currently being studied, no clear genetic link has so far been discovered and it is felt much more likely that it is the diet and eating habits within the family that lead to obesity and not genetics.

We have witnessed a considerable change in eating habits in the last few years with fast food restaurants appearing on every street corner, junk food widely available and the shelves of our supermarkets lined with ‘convenience’ foods which are more often than not very high in sugar. The days when we sat down to home cooked meals are long gone in the majority of households and have been replaced by take-away food or microwave meals. In fact, all too many parents are now opting to take their children out for a pizza instead of preparing meals at home not just because it is easier than cooking a meal but also because it saves a lot of washing up!

We have also seen a very marked drop in activity levels for many groups of children, spurred on in no small measure by the arrival of computers, video games consoles and now the ubiquitous mobile phone. Of course, as activity levels have dropped so children have lost their god given ability to burn off the calories gained from eating a growing quantity of junk food.

The Internet, magazines, television and other forms of media also play an important role as they all but dominate our childrens’ lives and fast food, junk food and candy manufacturers are not slow in jumping onto this particular bandwagon and take full advantage of the advertising opportunity provided by the media. Many people would argue that advertising has done more to encourage the rise in childhood obesity than almost anything else in the last few years.

There are also many psychological factors at play in the world today and many children today will simply eat whenever they get bored. Additionally, they will turn to food when they find themselves angry, stressed, depressed or anxious.

Right now a great deal of medical research is being directed towards the cause of child obesity and its treatment and much of this is aimed at finding a solution to the problem using diet and exercise once confronted with an obese child. However, with childhood obesity continuing to grow at an alarming rate, and with the obvious dangers of child obesity, perhaps it is now time to attack the roots of the problem and to stop our children from getting obese in the first place.