Dutch health insurance to cover gastric reduction surgery for some teens with obesity

Basic health insurance in the Netherlands will reimburse gastric reduction surgery for teenagers aged 13 and older with severe obesity, subject to strict conditions. The Healthcare Institute expects that around 100 teenagers will be eligible for the extensive selection process per year, and that 10 or 20 of them will actually get the surgery.

The surgery will be reimbursed only for teenagers who have already received lifestyle treatment to adopt healthier eating habits and increase physical activity, and for whom this didn’t work. Only teenagers who are almost done growing are eligible.

After the operation, called bariatric surgery, patients will remain under intensive treatment for at least five years.

François van Dielen, a bariatric surgeon at the Maxima MC who conducted a Dutch study into gastric reduction in teenagers, told RTL Nieuws that the surgery is explicitly intended as a last resort. “We do not operate lightly,” he said. But this surgery is necessary for a small group of teens who suffer from such severe obesity that their health is at risk at a young age. “For this small group, gastric reduction surgery can lead to better quality of life and a healthier future.”

Basic health insurance covering this surgery for some teenagers is an “important milestone,” Antia Vreugdenhil, a pediatric specialist and professor at Maastricht UMC+ and founder of the Center for Overweight Adolescent and Children's Healthcare, told the broadcaster. According to her, severe obesity affects these young people so much mentally and physically that this outweighs the risks of the surgery.

“It is not just about the surgery, but also about the entire process of properly assessing and supporting the young people involved. It is a wonderful step to be able to offer this to children who are seriously ill,” she said.