The Devastating Psychological Effects of Child Obesity

The psychological effects of being an overweight child are severe. Overweight children tend to suffer from low self-esteem, depression and loneliness. These children also face discrimination beginning at a very young age and are more likely to become suicidal.

Obesity and Self-Identity/Depression

Children get a sense of their own identity by monitoring how others perceive them. A child's self-esteem is greatly influenced by how others respond to them. Since our culture looks down on the overweight, overweight kids tend to develop a low sense of self-esteem.

Depression is also common in overweight children. These kids often feel insecure and inferior to others. While some obese kids become 'the life of the party' to compensate, others become reclusive. An overweight child's social life may suffer if she is uncomfortable interacting with other kids.

Overweight children and teens who are depressed tend to remain depressed throughout adulthood. Being overweight affects every aspect of one's life. Overweight adults tend to have fewer years of advanced education, lower family income, higher poverty rates and lower marriage rates compared to non-obese adults.

Obesity and Discrimination

Children understand that being overweight is socially undesirable from a very young age. In studies, young children shown pictures of overweight kids describe the children in the pictures as 'lazy' and state that they would not want to be friends with them. These children would rather be friends with somebody with a visible handicap (i.e. missing an extremity) than with somebody who is overweight. Interestingly, even overweight children show the same bias in these studies! They themselves state that they do not want to be friends with the kids in the overweight pictures.

The situation only gets worse as the child grows up. Overweight teens are often teased, ridiculed and shunned, leading to social isolation and depression. In addition, chronic obesity often leads to an increase in high-risk behaviors and oppositional-defiant disorders, since the overweight youngster must work harder than others to fit in with the social crowd.

Even teachers tend to discriminate against overweight children. These kids are more likely to be labeled as 'immature' or 'disruptive' when they are behaving normally for their age because they often look older and are therefore held to the standards set for older children.

The obese individual encounters discrimination all over. It is not uncommon for an obese person to get disapproving stares from others. Discrimination against the obese is so rampant that normal-weight individuals will often let an obese person know that he or she is taking up more space than he or she should. In most cases, the effects of these incidents make an obese person feel more self-conscious and depressed than ever.

Studies show that overweight individuals are less likely to be hired for a job than normal-weight individuals. Wages of the overweight, particularly overweight women, are much lower than wages of normal-weight workers. Some overweight individuals are even denied health insurance due to their weight!

It is not just a child's medical health that suffers from obesity. The psychological effects of being overweight are just as devastating. For all of these reasons, it is crucial to address a child's weight issue as soon as possible!

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