The poor are less likely to undergo weight loss surgery

White women with higher incomes and private health insurance were the most likely to have the surgery, according to a study to be presented Wednesday at the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS) annual meeting, in Dallas.
Using data from the 2006 Nationwide Inpatient Sample, sponsored by the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, researchers identified 88,000 morbidly obese adults who had bariatric surgery in the United States in 2006. Of those, 81 percent were women, 75 percent were white, 80 percent had incomes at least two times the poverty level and 82 percent had private health insurance. Read more on: Medline Plus