Kayla Bilderback
Psychology Research Paper
Obesity and Depression in Adolescents Mental and physical health is important to a happy healthy life. With rates of obesity soaring worldwide and depression becoming more evident it is undeniable that there is a problem, not only in adults but also in children. There has been little information about childhood obesity but, in recent years, more studies are being done to find out what the effects are of being extremely overweight at a young age and to see if there is a possible connection or correlation with depression.
Obesity is a serious health concern as a whole but is especially harmful for the world’s children. Childhood obesity is a fairly new concept; obesity was never thought of as a childhood …show more content…
Research has been inconclusive as to whether there is a connection between them, however, many studies have shown some type of relation. In a few experiments, there was some interesting data about adolescent females. It was found that young girls who were stably overweight during childhood had the most depressive symptoms and socially, having a positive body image and feeling accepted or popular among peers lead to less depressive symptoms in those girls who were previously overweight but in females that had not been these made no difference (Martin-Storeyn 1010; Boutelle 296 ). In western and some european studies the research shows at least some type of correlation or small consistent relation between depression and being overweight. What is interesting is that in middle eastern cultures the relationship between these two is virtually no connection. The thought is the different cultural views, in Middle Eastern countries there is the attitude that if the child is a little overweight it is good because they’re healthy but if they’re thin they are considered sickly (Roohafza 24 ). While in Western cultures there is a stigma around fat and being overweight because there is a huge pressure to be thin and “perfect”. The most important piece of information that almost every single study concluded with though was even if there was a connection between depression and obesity of not, mental health
Psychology Research Paper
Obesity and Depression in Adolescents Mental and physical health is important to a happy healthy life. With rates of obesity soaring worldwide and depression becoming more evident it is undeniable that there is a problem, not only in adults but also in children. There has been little information about childhood obesity but, in recent years, more studies are being done to find out what the effects are of being extremely overweight at a young age and to see if there is a possible connection or correlation with depression.
Obesity is a serious health concern as a whole but is especially harmful for the world’s children. Childhood obesity is a fairly new concept; obesity was never thought of as a childhood …show more content…
Research has been inconclusive as to whether there is a connection between them, however, many studies have shown some type of relation. In a few experiments, there was some interesting data about adolescent females. It was found that young girls who were stably overweight during childhood had the most depressive symptoms and socially, having a positive body image and feeling accepted or popular among peers lead to less depressive symptoms in those girls who were previously overweight but in females that had not been these made no difference (Martin-Storeyn 1010; Boutelle 296 ). In western and some european studies the research shows at least some type of correlation or small consistent relation between depression and being overweight. What is interesting is that in middle eastern cultures the relationship between these two is virtually no connection. The thought is the different cultural views, in Middle Eastern countries there is the attitude that if the child is a little overweight it is good because they’re healthy but if they’re thin they are considered sickly (Roohafza 24 ). While in Western cultures there is a stigma around fat and being overweight because there is a huge pressure to be thin and “perfect”. The most important piece of information that almost every single study concluded with though was even if there was a connection between depression and obesity of not, mental health