Reassurance! - Corona,CA

Ditto Dawn.
My husband and his brother both had their tonsils out as young children. Neither is even CLOSE to being obese. BIL isn't especially careful with his diet, and is normal weight. My husband is a healthy eater and exerciser (and has been since his teen years) and is normal weight.

I could give you TONS of anecdotal evidence to the contrary of the lie you have heard. There might be medical reasons for some people with obesity, but a tonsillectomy isn't one of them. Even if they convince themselves that it is.

Oh good grief. There are lies, damn lies, and statistics. Please ignore this. The things people will blame in order to take the REAL blame off of where the blame really lies...

You have obesity in your genes - lots of us do. Some people are BLESSED with high metabolism. Great for them. The rest of us have to WORK at staying slim, which means healthy eating, small portions, AND exercise. What these people are ignoring is that many kids are small because they have been so sick for a long time, sick ENOUGH for their tonsils to need to be removed.

Then boom, the kids FEEL a ton better later and start to eat. And the more they eat, the more they feel like eating. Without plenty of exercise and good foods in the house rather than cheez wiz and potato chips, kids ARE going to gain weight. Even WITH exercise and a healthy diet, if they eat too much, they're going to gain weight.

So stop stressing about the issue of the removal of tonsils that are full of infection and holding down a child's health. Your child's health comes FIRST. Then you actually HANDLE the issue of overeating later.

I'm sorry, but this whole idea of blaming obesity for removing tonsils really frosts me. What a crock.

Dawn

Not an expert but it sounds silly. Lots of people have tonsillectomy's and dont become obese.

What???? Where are you getting your info? I know and have known several kids who've had their tonsils taken out and they didn't get fat or obese. One of the girls did gain alot of weight when she hit puberty but I doubt it was because of her tonsillectomy years before.

I understand you just want to make sure your daughter is healthy but you might be worrying for nothing.

My brother had a tonsillectomy when he was in the third grade, and he has remained a healthy weight his entire life.

I know a handful of people who have had a tonsillectomy and only one is obese and judging from lifestyle it had nothing to do with the surgery.

Dear A.,
i will provide a different perspective. My 3 1/2 year old son had his tonsils and polyps in his nose removed 4 months ago. He did gain some weight after -- I believe for a variety of reasons:
1. He can taste his food
2. his throat does not hurt.
3. he is sick less
4. his physical activity now needs to catch up with his new appetitie. As he was sick almost constantly before he had his tonsils out and thus we did less.

does that make sense????

you have to take the "suggested" weight charts with a big grain of salt, the weight charts are based on averages from fifty years ago, using only people from the "white" category, no "ethnics" were involved in using the weight averages. plus you have to look at the glaring fact that doctors tend to "expect" girls to weigh less then their male counterparts, even when the girl is taller, and or of a heavier frame then the boys around her.
K. h.

I know an adult and a child that has had them removed.... and they have never had an issue w/ weight. Keep up the healthy lifestyle and she should be OK!

My son had his out when he was 4 and is not over weight at all. Some of them may have gained weight right after when they were not sick anyone. Cause most kids they keep having to have strep to get them out and I am sure once they start feeling better and can eat they might gain some but it's not a given that they will.

Mine had hers out on Monday and also has the overweight "genes" coming at her... so I will let you know!! I certainly hope she doesn't have to struggle with her weight for life due to this surgery, how horrible would that be! :(

Actually, when my now 8-year-old was 3, she had her tonsillectomy and did immediately gain a lot of weight. She never had a weight problem before the surgery but immediately following the surgery, she gained a lot, enough to qualify as overweight at her checkup. Last year, my now 5-year-old had her tonsillectomy and has gained a lot of weight. She just had her 5-year checkup and also qualifies as overweight, she never has before.

When I noticed the correlation I did google it and did find a wealth of evidence suggesting that the tonsil surgery leads to weight gain. However, I'm sure I could also find lots of articles that debunk that.

The fact of the matter is, I've struggled with my weight my entire life. I'm a result of crappy genetics (all of my Mom's family is fat). Unfortunately, my daughters will have to eat like birds their whole lives if they want to be a healthy weight. The surgery didn't cause that, genetics did.

Don't worry about it. Your family is healthy and active.