About a month ago, ABC news aired a story about a bride to be, who used a nasogastric feeding tube in order to lose 10 lbs before her wedding. I posted a link to the story on my Facebook page, and as expected, comments like "crazy"; "insane"; "disgusting"; "stupid", began to flood in. Admittedly, many of these comments mirrored what I was thinking myself. Crash dieting is one thing, but using a feeding tube to lose weight? Where will the line be drawn, if ever? The doctor who was promoting the feeding tube diet was also a target for several commentators, as they wondered how he could get away with such an "extreme" procedure. But is the idea of a feeding tube for weight loss really all that extreme?
From a purely physical standpoint, is the act of inserting a tube into one's nose and feeding it into the stomach really that dangerous? Well, no probably not. Is being fed an 800 kcal/day solution of protein and fat for 10 days all that dangerous? Again, probably not. Certainly if a woman decided she was going to drink an 800 kcal / day diet of protein and fat for 10 days, it would never be news, even though the physiological outcome would be the same as that of using the tube. Equally non-newsworthy would be the story of a woman who decides to have liposuction in order to lose weight for her wedding, despite liposuction being far more invasive then using a feeding tube. Indeed, most people would probably agree that undergoing IV sedation or general anesthesia, for the purpose of having a tube inserted under the skin to dislodge and suction out fat is probably a riskier endeavor than using a feeding tube.
So why then do we find a feeding tube to be so extreme, when other, already existing techniques for weight loss that clearly are much worse, have gained general social acceptability? For Americans, the feeding tube is an oddity, and something that we are not accustomed to seeing. It's novelty is partially why we find it so shocking, but one's willingness to do it is what we find so heartbreaking. It's not my place to sit in judgement of anyone who uses a feeding tube for weight loss, but I'm not crazy about the idea of it becoming commonplace either. In fact, I hope that the cavalier use of a feeding tube for weight loss continues to shock me, long after this post is forgotten.
This story was on 20/20 last night! Has to be the worst "diet plan" I have ever heard of. It seems to me that if you put a feeding tube in to get a set amount of calories, what you are really doing is training someone not to eat, feeding an unhealthy obsession with weightlossand providing the training for anorexia. Long term results of which are just as bad as obesity.
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