Obesity causing depression on adolescents is an important topic because depressive symptoms are the beginning phase to depression. These young adults who are clinically obese feel like outsiders and do not feel like they belong in society’s norm. They suffer from daily teasing and put-downs and from other kids because of what they physically look like. Their weight causes them to be rejected from others as well as themselves. Having this happen day after day will lead to a feeling of hopelessness and gradually leading to the early stages of depression. This is a serious turning point because once one becomes depressed they tend to lose their sense of self efficacy. Then which latently leads one to hurt their body even more through eating disorders or other negative effects caused by depression such as bulimia, anorexia or suicidal attempts. Women feel more pressure from societal influences to be thin than men due to the social media. During adolescence, girls experience the increasing pressure to be physically attractive and this demands a physique slimmer than normal. Also the pressures to be thin increases for girls when their bodies hit pubertal development due to the increase of body fat in some areas. Unlike pubertal changes in girls, changes in boys tend to be valued by society. Pubertal changes in girls are often undervalued by society and by girls themselves. Obesity is a common problem in today’s society. Adolescents who suffer from obesity may experience medical concerns such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, heart disease or even diabetes. An obese adolescent may experience criticism from peers while finding it difficult to participate to engage in social activities. Considering this fact, one can understand why psycholog...
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...eter J. J. Sauer, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, and Ronald P. Stolk
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In Andre Dubus’ The Fat Girl, Louise is a young adolescent with detrimental eating habits and broken self-esteem. Her lack of self-confidence stems from her atrocious emotional habitat. Louise receives constant criticism from her mother regarding her weight. Her mother states “If you are fat the boys won’t like you.” That kind of ridicule being said by a mother to her 9 year old daughter creates an atmosphere of self-hatred and self-loathing. It is not only her familial environment that contributes so greatly to Louise’s destructive behavior. She has few friends and the one’s she does have agree she needs to change. The society in which she lives also is a contributing factor; the society is laden with stigmas positioned on appearance. That manner of daily ridicule only introverts Louise even more, causing her secretive, binge eating to deteriorate. In research conducted by Ursula Polli-Potts PhD, Links between Psychological Symptoms and Disordered Eating behaviors in Obese Youths, she explains the correlation between psychological, emotional factors and eating disorders in overweight adolescents. Potts states, “The association between binge eating symptoms and eating in response to feelings of distress and sadness with depression/anxiety symptoms corresponds with the results of other studies.” Potts and her colleagues took overweight adolescents and placed them into control and variable groups to ensure correct data. The outcome of their research was that there is a direct correlation with emotional binge eating and psychological factors. Although more extensive research needs to be implemented, Potts and associates were pleased with the results of the case studies.
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In order to take a sociological viewpoint into account when one examines obesity, first it is important to understand how obesity is recognized in current society. According to today’s news articles and magazines and advertisements and other mass media about health and healthy life, one can easily realize that a great number of people have an eagerness to be healthy. Also, one can assume through these mass media about health that everyone wants to be attractive, and they are even prone to transform their own behaviors to gain attractiveness. This is because most people live a life where social interaction is frequently required and must engage themselves into social interaction every day of their life. Therefore, based on these ideas and proofs throughout this mass media, obesity is regarded as one of the characteristics that is disgraceful and undesirable in society.
Childhood obesity has become one of America’s biggest problems today. The number of overweight and obese children has increased at an outstanding rate during the mid- 1970s. According to the author of “The Metamorphoses of Fat- a History of Obesity,” one in five American kids is overweight or obese (23). Obesity is causing a broad range of health problems for these children that shouldn’t be happening until they reach their adulthood. Some of these health problems include high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol levels. Not only does childhood obesity cause health problems, but psychological ones too. Obese children are more likely to develop a low self- esteem and depression because of their negative body image.
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The stage of adolescence contains major changes which can bring stress, confusion, and anxiety. Feelings of self-consciousness, low self esteem and comparison with peers start occurring during this time. Along with the physical changes there is also hormonal and brain changes that affect the adolescent physically, mentally, emotionally, and psychologically. During this time a person can feel tremendous pressure to find their place in the world among a great deal of confusion (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Body image concerns and peer pressure are heightened during the period of adolescence, and are potential risk factors in the development of an eating disorder. While eating disorders can affects males and females of all ages, the average age of onset for Anorexia Nervosa, Bulimia Nervosa, and disordered eating takes place during adolescence. These disorders are often a coping mechanism for people to attempt to gain control of their situation when they feel helpless among other aspects of life (“Eating Disorders and Adolescence,” 2013). Eating disorders in children and teens can lead to a number of serious physical problems and even death (Kam, n.d.).
Weight and appearance is the cornerstone of either damage or endearment to a person’s self-esteems. Body mass index (BMI) is a measure of body fat based on height and weight. A BMI chart uses the figures obtained from your index to calculate body mass and classify your build based on where you are on the graph. Terms like over-weight and obese are used to describe the upper extremes. These terms present multiple forms of social prejudice, and therefore should not be used to label those with excessive weight. Labels like obese have negative connotations and when placed on a person they can have devastating psychological effects. Mild depressive disorders, body dissatisfaction and psychological maladjustment are disorders common to those struggling with being branded as obese. Children with these labels are at a higher risk of being subject to social abuse over time. Society should eliminate weight classifications and labels in order to keep youth from being exposed to social degradation at a young age.
The research question and goal of this study was to determine how well cognitive-behavioral therapy can affect adolescents with binge-eating disorder in the way the same treatment affects adults. Before creating the design to answer this three hypotheses were purposed for the study. The first two hypotheses states that cognitive behavioral therapy would have greater benefits than the waiting-list in reducing the number of binge eating episodes and reducing the number of days with a binge eating episode. From these hypotheses they also concluded that with cognitive behavioral therapy there will be a decrease in depressive symptoms which will lead to an increase in self-esteem and quality of life. And, that a decrease in binge eating episodes will also lead to stabilizing adolescents body mass index. It is fair to assume or hypothesize that with a decrease in binge eating episodes that ...
Childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last thirty years, it has recently become one of the major health issues in children. Children who are obese have a greater chance of getting other major health issues such as; heart disease, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and cancer. Not only does this child have a greater chance of getting other major health conditions but they also have a greater chance of getting anxiety and depression because these children get bullied for being overweight. It affects these children as they are children but also as they grow older. According to the article “What is Childhood Obesity”, “Children who are considered affected by obesity are seventy percent more likely to cont...
“More than one third of our children and adolescents in our country are now overweight or obese” (Kids and Obesity). This epidemic is also skyrocketing the occurrence of disorders and other health issues such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, asthma and bone and joint problems (Weight problems and obesity). But obesity can also effect adolescents on a deeper level, especially those of lower socioeconomic classes. Depression and low self esteem is also directly related to obesity and has high tendencies to lead to substance abuse is males and eating disorders in females (Weight problems and obesity). Adolescent obesity is a very serious issue and the need for nursing interventions has never been more prominent. The majorit...
Mcnaughton, D. 2013. ‘Diabesity’down under: overweight and obesity as cultural signifiers for type 2 diabetes mellitus. Critical public health, 23 (3), pp. 274--288.
In further studies, obesity is proven to lead children to have behavior problems as they get older. “In addition, research has found that overweight children tend to become adolescents with lower self-esteem and significantly higher rates of sadness, loneliness and nervousness. They’re also more likely to engage in high-risk behaviors such
obesity is also associated with complications of pregnancy, menstrual irregularities, hirsutism, stress incontinence, increased surgical risk, and increased mortality (win@info.niddk.nih.gov). Not only does obesity affect the body physically but also emotionally. “One of the most painful aspects of obesity is the emotional suffering it causes” (WebMD). Psychological disorders such as depression are developed as a result of obesity. Many people are unaware of all the ...
Obesity simply put, is an excessive amount of body fat. Obesity puts children at increased risk of disease and other health-related problems. Childhood obesity is a very serious and ongoing problem-putting children on the pathway to health conditions earlier in their life such as diabetes, elevated cholesterol, hypertension. Childhood obesity also has a link to depression as well as affects the self-esteem of children and adolescent. I recently performed a community teaching on childhood obesity and will be discussing the teaching experience, observation, summary of the teaching plan, epidemiological rationale for childhood obesity, evaluation of my teaching and the community’s response to the teaching.