Mrs Turia, who is an associate health minister, said she absolutely believed in more publicly funded stomach-stapling operations. “We already pay billions of dollars for the care of diabetics … All of that is huge money that the state has to pay.” Her call won support yesterday from National Party MP Chester Borrows, who had the operation in July 2007, and it is also rumoured that other National Party MPs have also had the operation.

I can’t believe this proposal by our MPs. I am no doctor so feel free to slash and burn me but from my experience being overweight is probably a combination of 3 things – eating, exercise and genetics. Therefore, there are probably times when the stomach staple is an option for some people. But to parade stomach stapling around as some health care ‘right’ as these MPs seem to be doing, is not going to help anyone. And the fact that we currently pay billions in health care is no good reason to waste money on an expensive surgery when other options are available.

The obvious question that must be asked is where does personal responsibility come into the equation? Is being obese solely a genetic thing that can’t be stopped, contained or managed? I believe it can be managed and would gladly help someone shed pounds by coaching them to complete a triathlon- just leave your name and email below. But the idea of stomach stapling every person with diabetes and those that tip the scales at 120kg is just ludicrous

When we as a society start to treat obesity in this way we actually take away the idea of any personal responsibility. By doing this we subconsciously give them no way out and tell them that they can’t control their weight and it is not their fault.

Getting people to pay for it would be a start. People have loans for everything nowadays and I am sure putting your stomach staple on HP could be an option through local District Health Board. The government could even offer help and as the Student Debt spirals out of control, alongside that we could have the ‘Stomach Debt’ where people could gain access to interest free loans to shed some pounds.

Rather than the stomach staple is the mouth staple a better option to reduce weight? I will leave you to think on that.

Another thing that gets to me is that it seems that this operation has changed the lives of a few MPs and they now seem to believe it should be open to everyone. In fact it seems that it is the only option they have thought of. Has the idea of forced exercise and restricted diet been investigated? I enjoy triathlon and it keeps me fit and trim. It probably costs me about $1000 a year to enter various events and pay for my lycra consumables. Why couldn’t that be an option to people or on a very personal level with cheap entry into marathons for those over a certain weight, coupons for local triathlons or subsides for your local gym could all be added to the next budget for a fraction of the price of a $28,000 operation.

Lindsay Mitchell also has a little to say on this topic.