Fat children should have gastric bands to prevent diabetes

Obese children with weight-related diabetes should be given gastric band surgery as young as 15, an expert claims. Paediatrician Julian Shield says the extreme measure will help save lives after an alarming rise in the condition. Rates of type 2 diabetes - a condition linked with obesity - have soared across all age groups in a decade as Britain struggles to control its weight problem. Seventeen per cent of British children - 900,000 in total - are classed obese or so fat that their health is in danger.