The Story That Shocked Me.

Britain's fattest teenager is now anorexic after having gastric bypass surgery. She has been given six months to live.

At 17, Malissa Jones once tipped the scales at 215kg. Four years and a gastric bypass later, she weighs less than 50kg and doctors are warning her that she could die if she doesn't increase her food intake.

Now the 21-year-old is urging others to lose weight healthily, instead of resorting to surgery. "Surgery can have consequences you might never have imagined," she says. "I am not deliberately starving myself but, right now, I would rather die than force myself to eat. I'm too thin. My body shocks me. But swallowing is painful. Eating a tiny amount gives me stomach cramps or makes me sick."

Malissa's a shocking and incredibly sad story, but it's not as simple as saying all weight-loss surgery is bad. While I do believe it should only ever be a last resort, the fact is, it works for some people. But for others, it just creates more problems and I am inclined to agree with clinical psychologist Dr Funke Baffour, who tells the Daily Mail, "There would have been psychological reasons for Malissa's obesity that a gastric band would not have dealt with. It is not surprising she has swapped one emotional relationship with food for another."