Childhood Obesity – The Emotional Toll

There are many negative health impacts of childhood obesity, unfortunately there are many emotional ones too.

Images of skinny people are everywhere, in magazines, on television, and online. This is the ideal that children learn to be the norm. There is a social stigma associated to being overweight. And children as young as six can associate negativity with being overweight. Although your overweight child may be popular, when they are compared to thinner classmates, they have a lower self-esteem. This low self-esteem can affect other areas of your child’s life such as feeling of shame, and poor academic performance.

Overweight children are often bullied. There are many forms of bullying today too. Years ago, bullying stopped when the child went home. Today, not only could your child be bullied in the classroom, they can be bullied through various social media platforms and text messaging.

The factors above may cause a child to become more introverted and depressed. When this happens, they might turn to food for comfort. Sadly, this will only worsen their problems.

Discrimination is another factor to consider. This discrimination can be something as simple as not being picked to be part of a team as a child, all the way to college admission and future job searches when they reach adulthood.

Because overweight children typically become overweight adults, it is good to practice healthy eating habits as well as encouraging good exercise habits at an early age.

For more informatio, go to: https://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/obesity/Pages/The-Emotional-Toll-of-Obesity.aspx