Obesity is on the rise in this country, and obesity among children has become a major issue for health care providers.
Childhood obesity is a serious medical condition that affects children and adolescents. Childhood obesity can result in a number of psychological issues. Weight issues could be particularly difficult during the tween years because of the unique social atmosphere this age bracket faces.
Although childhood obesity may have detrimental consequences for childhood self-esteem, the prevalence and magnitude of the problem is controversial. In addition, the social and emotional effects of decreased self-esteem in obese children are unknown.
This occurs when a child or adolescent is extremely above the normal weight for his/her age and height. Approximately one in five children, ages 6 through 17 are overweight. A number of these children face a high risk of developing obesity related problems, for example high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease.
Below you’ll find more information about the psychological effects of childhood obesity along with the long-term effects later in life if it is not controlled during childhood.
Overeating Results in Eating Disorders
Parents encourage kids to dig into buckets of chicken and donuts slathered with cream toppings, where it might rightly seem like a family that binges together stays together. When kids should do something as tempting because this throughout their childhood, it’s no wonder why they cannot see their toes once they stand up straight by age 10. The problem with kids nowadays who don’t even know how bad what they’re doing is, is that if they do not get the same junk that they are bought up on, they’ll think it is someplace else.
With the kind of food joints available making the eating experience cheap, kids are waltzing into stores too and purchasing off the shelves whatever they please. Kids then turn bulimic as time passes, which is a mental obsession on being thin, where one binges on drink and food and then pukes themselves or turns to laxatives to empty the machine. This can have a serious effect on mental and physical health.
Effects of Childhood Obesity
Seeking One’s Home like a Hideaway
Kids see their homes as a spot to seek refuge in externally world where no one is pointing at him/her and judging them for his or her outward appearance. Some parents pressure the kid into doing things they do not want to do anymore like playing outside or seeing a place where he/she is likely to encounter kids from school. They seclude themselves from something that would cause them emotional injury, turning anti social and bitter as time lapses. It’s important to note these signs and focus on his/her grades and what teachers are saying at meetings that could seriously damage your son or daughter’s outlook on life.
Depression, Insufficient Self Worth and Withdrawal from Family and friends
All overweight kids can do today is visit school, sit down all day before that blackboard, and then wobble on home. There are no games, sports or fun activities that they want to be a part of anymore. They’re even looked down upon in gym class where kids giggle and point once they pass by. It can lower self-esteem and set a deep dent in your confidence like a person. It can be quite troublesome to determine kids having to deal with this everyday. The scariest thing that can happen is not turning up at school, and causing a scene in your own home to avoid going at all.
