Obesity and Adolescent Development essays

Obesity and Adolescent Development essays In recent studies of obesity in adolescents and young adults, it seems that researchers had discovered many effects beyond the purely physical that make overweight an unhealthy thing. In fact, the psychosocial effects are quite devastating as well, but they are not caused directly by the state of being heavy; they are caused more often by the individual's perceptions, what he or she believes about the overweight status that causes the harm. There is no firm conclusion yet as to whether a single factor or multiple factors cause the obesity that in turn contributes to the poor self-image. Some researchers believe that the overweight condition itself caused by a self-fulfilling prophecy allied to the overweight condition. There is only one thing that has become accepted as certain, a truism coined by Alfred Adler and quoted by Hoover and Whitehead, 2000: Numerous children grow up in the constant dread of being laughed at. Ridicule of children is well nigh criminal. It retains its effect on the soul of the child, and is transferred into the habits and actions of his adulthood. Alfred Adler on feelings of inferiority, p. 71 (1932) Current research shows that, in fact, obesity is the number one cause of children being ridiculed. Being overweight is one of the five most common reasons that boys and girls identified for being bullied, according to Hoover and Whitehead. (2000) And, says Munson, for obese adolescents who are teased and bullied, obesity is often associated with psychological and behavioral symptoms, although she adds that whether pediatric obesity should thus be labeled a psychiatric disorder is debatable and insufficient work has been done in that area to make a call one way or the other. Between Adler's stringent belief that being laughed at causes distress to the soul of a human being, and Munson's...