My DD had her tonsils out and her adenoids out (twice too!) and she gained quite a bit of weight after that. Before she had the surgeries she was quite thin (some people even said she looked 'sick'). She was able to lose the weight as a teenager.

I never had my tonsils out and I was still overweight.

I had a T&A when I was little and I was still a skinny kid.

I grew up in the 1940ties when just about every kid I knew---through neighborhood & grammar school---had their tonsils out. It was almost a "rite of passage" back then, though neither myself nor two slightly younger siblings had the surgery. I can only recall one "fatty" from my childhood. Seems, if this theory is correct, childhood obesity would have been EXTREMELY common back then.

I don't think anything but meds and over eating causes weight gain. I am over weight, but as long as I keep my clothes on and dress appropriately I look good. I know my weight gain is cause by to many snacks and lack of exercise. As we age our bodies may not burn calories like they used to but we just have to back away from the table. Every obese person I get to know well will say "I don't eat much", but you will see food on their counters, potato chips, cookies, rolls, etc.. I have one obese friend who admitted it was the snacks that made her gain. It breaks my heart to see obese kids come into the pizza parlor when I am there and they eat twice what I can eat and their parents are encouraging them to eat.

I had mine out when I was 2, always a skinny kid.

My child gained weight too ...she went from a very sickly looking underweight child to a healthy normal weight child.....

It happened to me. I was very skinny until the tonsils came out. But just think about it. I was always sick until the tonsils were out. That probably accounts for not gaining weight. I missed 30 1/2 days of 1st grade with tonsilitis.

Linda

Yeah I gained weight. A LOT of weight. About 8 years later............ Now I get it! It was because I had my tonsils out when I was 9. Had nothing at all to do with the fact I left home and ate everything in sight. aha!

Was going to say exactly what Kfca37 said. Where were all the post tonsillectomy obese kids of the 40s and 50's?

My husband had his out and they accidentally cut off his Uvula ??? Not sure that is the right word. He was thin until the day he died.

My DD had hers out in first grade. She did get a bit chubby from first to about sixth grade. Not what one would call obese but chubby. She thinned down quite a bit. I did notice that after the surgery, she started eating more different types of food. I remember once she commented that food tasted different now. I also remember when she was sick and skinny, I tried to get her to eat and I didn't care at all if it had lots of calories. Possibly that's how it happens. They have to retrain the taste buds.

I suspect that if you have been sick fighting a malingering infection, you might gain weight if the source of infection is taken away and you turn to better health.

I had my tonsils out when I was 19 and I was skinny.....stayed skinny until I was approaching my 60's.....put on weight but didn't let it stay there.
I think obesity today in children is caused my poor nutrition and lack of exercise.

I was 16 and fat when I had mine out. Didn't make any difference, but I wouldn't recommend being 16 and having them out - that was awful!

I never had mine out...thank heavens! Or I wouldn't fit thru a doorway! LOL!

There is no excuse for me.....

I had my T&A'S out at 15 yrs of age and my GD'S had theirs out when they were little,and none of us had a weight problem.

JMO but i think the reason there is soooooooo much obesity is there is too much junk food,fast food etc and not much moving around.

Too many video games,tv time and not enough time outside playing and doing stuff.
kathi

junk food and fast food does not make you fat unless you eat big macs or supper size every meal you eat. They did a test here with two people eating only at McD's, one gained weight one lost. Taking in more calories than you burn is what makes people fat.

I resisted having my tonsils out, even thru three bad
cases of tonsillitis in my 20's and 30's. I've never had a weight problem at all. I remember my cousin Dianne had her tonsils out and her voice changed dramatically, I think her weight stayed normal. All I know is she exercises and walks a lot and has a great shape!

I had my tonsils out when I was 21. It never affected my weight.

This is my favorite comment on page one of the comments.

Allen wrote:

In other news, the number of pirates in the Carribean dropping seems to correlate with the number of obese children. Also, the higher the year numbers get, the higher kids weight seems to get. Experts agree we should roll back the calendar and bring back pirates.

Just a bunch of more wasted dollars for another useless study.

OK......I am 39. I had chronic infections of the tonsills, so 6 months ago I had them removed. All my life I always watched what I eat. I work out at least 3 times per week (stair master and weights) I was in good shape. Immediately after surgery....the pounds came on. I gained 25 pounds in a few months. I am so frustrated now I am taking diet pills and the weight won't budge!!! I'm not even eating but lettuce and tuna?? Seriously....something is wrong here!!!

Before the tonsillectomy I simply could not gain weight. I did not enjoy being a skinny guy, and I would lift weights (to no avail) in an effort to bulk up. Then at age 26, my tonsils were so bad that the ENT doc decided they had to be removed. After the 3-4 recovery, I noticed my body growing noticeably larger. Without much effort, I was able to put on muscle. Usually this process is slow and insidious. But I swear that the tonsillectomy had a transformative effect on my body. From January to July of that year, I was a skinny twerp. For the 3-4 weeks which followed the July surgery, I was a sickly mess. But from August to December, my physique had quickly started to look more like a man's than a boy's.

The chronically infected and swollen tonsils were draining a certain amount of lifeforce out of my body. Perhaps my body was so busy fighting the infected tonsils that it neglected other areas. And like a couple others here have said, the chronically infected tonsils were making probably me sickly.

I had them out at 2 1/2 and didn't start dealing with weight issues until after puberty and have never been obese.

I can't think of any mechanism that would link a tonsillectomy with metabolism that would account for that.

I had mine out at 9. I was tall and skinny until I left home at 17 and discovered processed food was easier to cook. Within a year I gained 50 pounds. It's the food you put into your body. Not the body parts you remove.

I believe my brother had his out when he was 10 years old. It didn't affect him, he was always slim. Never had mine out and never had a weight problem. :)

One of the interesting things about reading an old post (this one is from 2011) is the names of posters who no longer post here. I remember Wildchild and heyjud.