Teenage Waistland — Lynn Biederman; Lisa Pazer

"You all believe that losing one-hundred-plus pounds will solve everything, but it won't. Something far heavier is weighing on you, and until you deal with that, nothing in your lives will be right."
-- Betsy Glass, PhD, at first weekly group counseling session for ten severely obese teens admitted into exclusive weight-loss surgery trial

Patient #1: Female, age 16, 5'4", 288 lbs.

* Thrust into size-zero suburban hell by remarried liposuctioned mom. Hates new school and skinny boy-toy stepsister.
* Body size exceeded only by her big mouth.

Patient #2: Male, age 16, 6'2", 335 lbs.

* All-star football player, but if he gets "girl surgery," as his dad calls it, he'll probably get benched.
* Has moobies -- male boobies. Forget about losing his V-card -- he's never even been kissed.

Patient #3: Female, age 15, 5'6", 278 lbs.

* Morbidly obese and morbid, living alone with severely depressed mother who won't leave her bed.
* Best and only friend is another patient, whose dark secret threatens everything Patient #3 believes about life.