Like any cosmetic procedure, parental consult is required for a patient under age 18. There is no medical contraindication to operating on a patient under age 18, but the individual case circumstances would be taken into consideration. In order to avoid interfering with the development of a healthy body image or stigmatizing anyone's particular body shape or size, I would avoid operating on anyone for cosmetic purposes unless they were particularly mature and doctor, parents and patient were all in agreement. It is common to operate on teenagers for rhinoplasty, male breast enlargement, protruding ears because these issues are recognized as causing self image problems and decreased self esteem for some adolescents.In our society young women are unfortunately confronted with unrealistic body images in the media and may want cosmetic surgery as a result. Realistically, liposuction is to get rid of fat resistant to diet and exercise, so doing it to weigh less is not an acceptable indication and is always pointed out to patients so that they may have realistic expectations.