Bariatric surgery is now fairly commonplace. Obesity operations such as gastric bands and gastric bypass surgery have made a huge difference to the health of a number of people by freeing them from the restrictions of diabetes, high blood pressure and joint problems. This has greatly reduced their need for medication and other specialist services. The many people that have undergone bariatric surgery and seen these results show that weight loss surgery is not just about losing weight, tackling health problems is also a real benefit of the surgery.

Following guidelines published by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), the NHS has funded some of these operations after realising that not offering bariatric surgery can in the long term end up costing more due to the health related disorders affecting morbidly obese patients.

The public are now familiar with seeing celebrities slimming down after bariatric (weight loss) surgery. Fern Britton, Anne Diamond, Alison Hammond, Sharon Osbourne, Diego Maradona, Carnie Wilson.the list goes on.

But how do these operations get reported? Are they seen as worthwhile? Do fatties deserve expensive operations? TV programmes featuring the morbidly obese seem to attract large audience figures but are the subjects viewed sympathetically?

Margaret (39) underwent a gastric band with TV Fat Doctor Shaw Somers. She said: I tried every diet imaginable but always regained weight loss with extra. I was thrilled with the results of my gastric band but I was really worried that friends and work colleagues would judge me as lazy and a cheat if they found out about the operation. I appeared on an episode of The Fat Doctor a few years ago. I was lucky that the show was sympathetic to my story and I felt that I was represented in a fair light that offered viewers a real understanding of what weight loss surgery is.

Toni Russo is a nurse consultant with Streamline Surgical. She said:

The media is a powerful tool to inform people about surgery options but I do cringe when I read or hear the value laden expressions used to provoke a reaction. Fat busting ops seem to be offered to the lazy ladies who have ballooned into massive sizes. Even sympathetic documentaries seem to delight in showing the obligatory underwater shot of the extremely obese man with all fat rippling as he struggles to swim. It would take a lot to convince me that these desperate people willingly expose their bodies.

Whatever the red tops say, our patients are desperate and look to us to help them to reclaim better health and self esteem. I hate to see them exploited. What the media needs to do is understand that obesity is an illness and not just a result of laziness.

Whatever happens, obesity is likely to remain a hot media topic for many years to come.