All that bariatric surgery does is make it so one cannot eat as much. Am I mistaken about this? It also makes it so you do not absorb all of the food you eat, but that’s really not any different. Its no more effective than someone always by your side, stopping you from eating after you’ve had enough.
Bariatric surgery does not itself cure or treat any medical conditions; it simply forces the person to eat less. It is this eating less which helps the person. Eating less is something that people are typically able to do on their own. I’ve known many a competitive weight lifter or body builder who, during a dieting phase, eats very little every day, and none of it pleasant-tasting. I myself have been in the Army and rationed myself 1,200 calorie MRE through a whole day despite 12 mile hikes (which itself burns more than my single MRE). The point is, when properly motivated, most people can adopt sufficient discipline to eat less.
But again, as I said previously, some people clearly cannot. Whether because of physical or mental disorder, some people could not stop eating even if a gun was placed to their heads. Such people are, for whatever reason, addicted to food, and asking them to eat less is like asking an alcoholic to only drink half a beer. For such people, bariatric surgery is a Godsend because it makes them physically hurt after a few bites. For everyone else, everyone without a compulsion that borders on an addiction, I question the necessity of bariatric surgery.