NRGs home in to tie up tummies

Radha Sharma / TNN / Dec 6, 2006, 23:16 IST

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This year, you will spot NRIs not just in Gujarat's shopping malls, but also lined up outside a clinic's, waiting to go under the knife to slim down.

AHMEDABAD: This year, you will spot NRIs not just in Gujarat's shopping malls and farsaan shops, but also lined up outside a surgeon's clinic, waiting to go under the knife to slim down.
Fifty-two-year-old NRG from New Jersey, Bharti Patel, is one such enthusiast. She fulfilled her load-shedding mission while on her annual trip to Gujarat.
Currently in Ahmedabad, Patel went under the knife for a gastric bypass surgery, a popular procedure among the obese in the US.
She is already lighter by 12 kg. Patel admits that bingeing on junk food like pizzas, nachos, chips and burgers to beat the blues of a relatively lonesome existence in the US — her daughters are married and son is in college — led to the kilos piling up.

"I wanted to look good in whatever I wear,"Patel told TOI. She is not the only one. There are many NRGs who plan to use their Gujarat trip to loose weight gained by their reckless lifestyle and easy access to American junk.
While many opt for liposuction and tummy-tucks, the morbidly obese are hitting the operation theatres for a more advanced procedure like gastric bypass.
Gastric bypass surgery is done laproscopically where the size of the stomach is significantly reduced to one-tenth of the original size and the small intestine is re-routed to reduce calorie absorption.

This procedure is permanent and helps in rapid weight loss. It is to the NRGs advantage that they undergo the procedure here because while the total cost of the operation in Gujarat is pegged at Rs 3-3.5 lakh, it costs a whopping Rs 30 lakh to Rs 1 crore in America, depending upon the centre where it is performed.
Sameer Patel, the 22-year-old son of a motel owner in US, tipped the scales at a massive 170 kg. Sameer's parents were concerned as not only was he denied insurance due to morbid obesity, he also faced with a major health risk.
However, Sameer underwent the surgery and lost 35 kg. According to obesity experts, this trend is on the rise. "There are many NRG patients lined up for gastric bypass, especially in the NRG season from December-February,"says surgeon Mahendra Narwaria, who has performed over 100 such procedures in the past one-anda-half years.

About the Author

Radha Sharma

Radha Sharma is assistant editor at The Times of India, Ahmedabad, and covers issues related to health and social development. Her interest lies in doing socially relevant campaigns and human interest stories. She likes to read fiction and listen to music.

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