THE ARCHIVE

The secret to López’s success was a surgical technique known as vertical banded gastroplasty, in which the volume of his stomach was permanently reduced by stapling a portion of it shut, immediately diminishing the quantities he consumed.

López is another statistic in an explosion of childhood and adolescent obesity that has spread not just globally, but especially in Spain. The latest studies completed for Spain by AVENA and enKid, report that one in four Spanish children and adolescents are overweight or obese, with Barcelona corresponding to the national average, according to a 2007 report published by the Generalitat’s Department of Public Health.

“Fifteen years ago, nine percent of infants and adolescents were obese,” said Vicente Varea, a physician who heads Childhood Digestive Services at Sant Joan de Déu Hospital. “Now 16 percent are obese and around 12 percent are overweight.”

Obesity is defined by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a medical condition in which excess body fat has accumulated to the extent that it may have an adverse effect on health. Its prevalence in youth can have a long-term impact: of the children who are obese at 16, 80 percent become obese adults, which can contribute to arteriosclerosis, type-II diabetes, cancer, hypertension, osteoarthritis, gout and various cardiovascular diseases.

It can seriously infringe on one’s quality of life, as well. Among children and adolescents, the effect of stigmatisation, either perceived or real, can be particularly devastating. “I felt a little isolated,” said Alvaro López. “I would feel panic if I went to a discotheque or even just to go out. It scared me just to meet people, as if they were going to laugh at me or something. But I felt the most different because of my clothes. My friends treated me the same as always, but they would always talk about the stores for buying cool clothes and I couldn’t go there because I had to buy clothes in stores for large people.”