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We all want to lose weight and flaunt a movie star figure with the least amount of hard work possible. With a million ways of effortlessly losing weight being advertised on all kinds of media around us, we seldom think of traditional ways like exercising, to lose weight and stay fit. Everyone is looking for a shortcut, and perhaps that's the reason, a growing number of doctors these days are using weight-loss surgeries as a 'quick fix' for obese patients.

A report warns, more and more people, even before trying out a diet or an exercise regime are opting to go under the knife to lose weight.

Also, the report points that these surgeries are advertised in a "disgraceful" and "overly optimistic" terms, with one website offering a free prize draw to win back the cost of an operation, Mail Online reports.

A National Confidential Enquiry into Patient Outcome and Death found that out of the care given to 381 patients that it studied, only one in three was found to have received counseling before the surgery. Following the findings, it urges improved standards in the NHS and private clinics.

According to co-author Ian Martin, it carries "considerable risks, as well as benefits. It shouldn't be undertaken without providing full information and support to patients," he said.

"But, when we reviewed cases we found examples of inadequate processes from start to finish - even the basics, such as giving patients dietary advice and education before decisions to operate are taken, were sometimes lacking," Martin further said.

The report says that there should be a two-stage consent process before a patient undergoes the surgery, so that the patient gets ample time to ponder and weigh up the benefits and the risks of the surgery.

More than 8,000 gastric band and bypass operations are done on the NHS every year, with guidelines advising surgery only in extreme cases of obesity, the report said.

"Bariatric surgery is not a quick fix. It has been proven to be an incredibly successful and cost-effective treatment for morbid obesity and the many serious conditions associated with it. New clinical guidelines aimed at improving the safe and effective provision of weight loss and metabolic surgery in the UK were issued earlier this year by professional bodies who specialise in weight-loss surgery, such as the British Obesity and Metabolic Surgery Society," Professor Norman Williams, President of the Royal College of Surgeons,  was quoted as saying by Mail Online.

"Recommendations include a rigorous pre-operative multidisciplinary assessment involving surgeons, dieticians and psychologists. We will continue to work together with other health professionals in this area of surgery to ensure high standards of care and patient safety are maintained," Williams added.