Obesity fuels growing ‘boy-boob’ problem



Nigel Hawkes, Health Editor Obesity has been blamed for the growing problem of “boy-boobs” – cases of teenage boys with breasts so well developed that surgery is needed to reduce them.

Doctors at Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool say that they are seeing dozens of teenagers every year with gynaecomastia, the condition in which males develop breasts.

Christian Duncan, a plastic surgeon specialising in obesity-related surgery, said that in the past 12 months he had performed at least 20 breast-reduction operations on young boys who had developed the condition.

Mr Duncan is treating others who do not yet qualify for surgery by encouraging them to make changes to their lifestyle, such as starting a healthy diet or beginning an exercise programme.

He believes that the condition is becoming more common among teenage boys in Liverpool, and that it can cause “terrible damage” to their lives and their self-esteem.

While some boys are simply fat, giving the appearance that they have breasts, those who develop gynaecomastia face a greater problem: the growth of firm female breast tissue under the nipples, Mr Duncan said. This condition is caused by a hormone imbalance during adolescence and in many cases resolves itself naturally. There is some evidence that the imbalance can be triggered by obesity.

Mr Duncan said: “This is different to someone just being overweight. These are firm female breasts, something that any woman would be proud of. There isn’t one month that has passed in the past 12 months where I have not seen a new patient with this condition. It used to be much less common and I am afraid it is a sign of the growing problem of childhood obesity.

“We try to teach these boys about making lifestyle adjustments, like getting them to go to the gym, but they just won’t go. They become very self-conscious and it can start to affect their ability to socialise and concentrate at school. Often they are bullied. To rectify the problem for them we basically use liposuction to remove the glandular and breast tissue and fat from around the chest to give a flatter appearance.”

Mr Duncan said he believed that the boys’ poor diet was causing an imbalance in their hormones, resulting in their developing breasts.

He said: “Both men and women have breast tissue but there is something about obesity that triggers hormone imbalances and causes an unnatural growth in these boys.

“If nothing is done to stop the growing tide of childhood obesity in the city I expect to see more cases year-on-year.”

More than one cause

— Breast reduction operations in men have increased sharply in recent years. Whether this increase is because of a greater incidence of gynaecomastia or a greater availability of cosmetic surgery is unclear

— In men the condition can have a number of causes, including body-building drugs, recreational drugs, cancer, diseases of the liver or kidney, and obesity. It may affect one breast, or both

— Some doctors have blamed increased levels of female hormones, or chemicals that mimic their effect, that are in the environment. In boys, the condition is very common but usually resolves itself without treatment as the hormone balance in the body stabilises at the end of adolescence.

Fat fucking chavs. Oddly, the majority of these tubs of lard live in Scotland and the North, yet the SouthEast is slowly dipping into the sea. You'd think it would be the other way round.

I love the Yank posting stuff about fat Brits. Oh well, if it makes you feel better about your own lard-arse, go ahead.

Here here

TickTock is obsessed with obesity.

Just to add some balance to the discussion anorexia is on the increase too. :bradleh:

I'd kill for a bout of anorexia. About 3 weeks of it would do nicely!

You just need a new exercise routine. The old one clearly isn't working and i don't like the outfit...

I thought I looked rather fetching. :(

:chuckle:

Fat, lazy pigs.

I think it's about time the Fat were charged double for seats on planes/buses etc and that they then have access to special chairs suitable for the fat.

there is nothing more disgusting than being suffocated by sweaty, damp rolls of blubber when sitting nexy to some lardass.

Especially when they only have to pay the same as me but take up half my seat as well as their own.

It *is* interesting that people can be charged a fortune for even a small amount of extra baggage, yet someone who weighs stones more than them are charged the same for their seat.

By the way, I'm in no way saying that that should change! It's what makes us human after all, the fact that we're all so different and come in all shapes and sizes!

Nice

You were going with the argument then back tracked rapidly. I am going to stcik with your original point and say its actually pretty unfair how you are charged more for a few kilos of clothes etc but a big fatty gets away with paying no more.

I say we start the revolution here people :Topaz:

I'm gonna start the pro-fat lobby right now then!!!

Burger and fries anyone??

People don't come in the 150 kg sizes. It isn't natural.

There's nothing worse than fat people stuffing their fat fucking faces with shit and then complain about it right after.

I heard some airlines in the US were trying to charge the fat fuckers more, which is only fair. They must cause the plane to burn up more fuel trying to take off, as well as taking up more space. I was on a plane next to some fat bitch once and she literally molded herself around me. My arm was buried between two rolls of fat, I felt sick.

:lmao:

Me: 56 kilos. Just today at work I skipped out of dinner for the toilet because I drank way too much water that day and when I came back I found out people had been talking about me being anorex and obviously everyone was looking for traces of vomit. :manson:

Now I always eat my lunch behind my desk because everyone's commenting on what I eat. Too many 55-year-old collegues. :manson:

I want this virus that my colleague had. He wobbled into work, had to leave half way through the day because he was feeling ill, we didn't see him for three weeks ... and came back looking like he'd just stepped off a catwalk.

I could put up with three weeks in bed, sleeping, being waited on hand and foot, for that!

:lol2: