The Cause And Effects Of Obesity On Children

For the past two decades or so, there has been a dramatic increase in the number of obese children, adolescents, and adults. Nearly, 32% of American children in between the age of two and nineteen are considered obese (Witters 1). In its most basic terms, obesity is defined as weight range exceeding what is considered healthy for an individual of given height. Obesity is subject to factors such as genetics, social lifestyles, consumption of less healthy foods, and the lack of breastfeeding support from parents at an early age. Though obesity is prevalent in people of different ages, this paper will be mainly focusing on children. Consequently, this article will discuss the cause and effects of obesity in children.
Effects of children obesity …show more content…
Most of the psychosocial consequences of childhood obesity can be felt both in the long term and in the short term. They include negative self-images, eating disorders, low quality of life especially due to the health complications, as well as decreased self-esteem (Ahima 150-53). In the short run, the children are unable to relate to other children of their age since they fear being stigmatized because of their social health. In many cases, these children at times develop loner tendencies as they fear to interact with the other children. Dunn finds this to be as a result of past experiences that the children may have experienced in their interactions (1). Similar to the other factors found above, the psychosocial effect of obesity also appears to be of much effect on the quality of life of the children later on in their …show more content…
As a result, this paragraph will focus on exploring how the quality of life has been affected in this case. As adults suffering from obesity are only affected by their physical wellbeing, Wille et al. assert that its impact is much more pronounced for people at a younger age (par 8). Jia and Lubetkin also find the health-related quality of life to be related to factors such as the physical well-being of the individual child, their psychological well-being, family life, self-esteem, as well as their school life (156-57). All of the factors mentioned above play a role in the well-being of the child. Therefore, any factors inhibiting this could be understood to negatively affect the child. The issue with the quality of life suggests that the child cannot lead a normal life without being stigmatized or marginalized for a wide range of reasons. Consequently, this paragraph clearly proves that the quality of life is significantly affected, both in the short-term and in the long-run for the obese