13-year-old Brooke Bates is the subject of some major controversy these days. The teenager recently had surgery to have a gastric lap band placed over her stomach, helping keep her from over-eating. But wait, that's not all -- when she was 12, she got liposuction and a tummy tuck, which helped the 220-lb girl drop 40 pounds. She gained most of it back, hence the gastric lap band. She's lost 15 lbs so far and is hoping to lose 50 more. Brooke days that after her first round of plastic surgery, she went from being the "big, fat girl to the popular girl." Plastic surgery is only available to adults in the US, so Brooke traveled to Mexico for the surgery.

I think this is absolutely appalling. Obviously, quick fixes aren't working (she gained almost all of the weight back after her first one, after all) so have her parents ever heard of teaching healthy habits? How about diet and exercise? There's no reason why a healthy 13-year-old shouldn't be able to lose weight the old fashioned way, Furthermore, why are her parents reinforcing the belief that she needs to be thin to be happy?

I think this is so wrong on so many levels. What do you think?

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