The psychology of childhood obesity

The psychology of childhood obesity

Currently, there is a lot of buzz around childhood obesity as behavioral experts try to fight the childhood obesity epidemic from different angles. Without a doubt, childhood obesity is a complex issue which happens when a child is well above the average or heathy weight of his or her age. Researchers and experts consider it one of the most serious public health challenges of the 21st century that has far-reaching and enduring adverse consequences for health outcomes. Presently, over 42 million children in the world who are under the age of five are estimated to be obese, and if the trend continues, it is expected that by 2025, over 70 million children who are under the age of five will be obese. Moreover, the issue of obesity in children is alarming since it is increasing at a higher rate in developing countries. Yet, these developing countries relay on developed countries when it comes to health issues.

The psychology of childhood obesity

Research has shown that there is a direct relationship between depression and anxiety. It is why weight gain during adolescence might be connected to depression, low self-esteem, and negative mood states. When obese children are compared to normal-weight children, it was found that overweight children are more likely to suffer from increasing levels of psychosocial distress, which is significantly linked with depression.

Another psychological issue related to childhood obesity is self-esteem issues. Children and, in particular, teenagers tend to be very aware of how they compare to others, and this makes them self-conscious and feeling alone. Also, a majority of these social comparisons hinge on superficial features such as facial attractiveness, the choice of clothes, and weight. Therefore, an obese child may feel out of place among slimmer peers. Further, researchers have found lower levels of self-esteem in obese children and teenagers when compared to their peers who are of average weight. Generally, children and teens tend to be unhappy with themselves in various ways, and that includes being dissatisfied with their appearance and weight.

Additionally, another psychological issue associated with obesity is enhanced behavioral problems, and every parent of a child or teenager has reported behavior problems in obese children or teenagers. For instance, obese children tend to internalize their issues; hence their anger is directed inwards. Keeping in anger can lead to eating disorders, depression, or anxiety. Externalizing problems whereby the anger is directed outwards leads to backtalk, aggression, and defiance. Also, a majority of parents have confirmed that obese children are less competent in school and also when it comes to creating relationships. Therefore, these children put their academic success and friendships at risk, and that is why a significant number of obese children get poor test scores, fail to go to college, lack friends who hence mostly stay alone and can even be held back.

Additionally, obesity leads to a higher risk of eating disorders. Some of the eating disorders are binge-eating, bulimia nervosa, and anorexia nervosa. Partly, the risk is linked to the efforts of one wanting to lose weight hence leading to unhealthy behavior such as extreme exercising and restricting eating. Moreover, is an obese child is teased by his or her peers about their weight, they become vulnerable to binge eating. Also, some of the children with eating disorders are because of low self-esteem and low self-efficacy.

Moreover, parents play a huge role when it comes to the psychology of obese children. For instance, parents can make sure kids seek treatment for their behavioral problems. It is the parents who can see obesity as a problem that needs treatment or something that doesn’t have any problem at all. In summary, obesity can result in several psychological issues during a person’s childhood. Thus, the necessary steps need to be taken to remedy issues surrounding childhood obesity. For instance, a parent can contact a nutritionist and change the nutrition of the child, encourage a child to be physically active, and even contact a child pediatrician so that he or she can determine the problem of the child and address it.

Causes and consequences of childhood obesity

The causes of childhood obesity are similar to those of adults, and they range from a person’s behavior to genetics. The primary cause is behavior, which includes excess weight gain because of eating low-nutrient foods, beverages, and foods that are high in calories while at the same time not getting enough physical activity such as just sitting down to watch television and other screen devices. Other behaviors that cause childhood obesity are poor sleeping routines and the poor use of medicine. Research has confirmed that if children consume a healthy diet and are physically active, they grow well and maintain a healthy weight throughout their childhood.

Furthermore, the balancing of energy or calories got from food through being active and eating healthy has other health advantages such as the prevention of chronic diseases such as heart diseases, diabetes, and cancer. Another cause of childhood obesity is the community environment that a child lives in. It is hard for parents and children to make healthy choices and do enough physical activity when these parents and children are exposed to an environment that does not support healthy habits. An example is places such as schools or child care centers that can impact the diet that students have and the physical activities that they engage in. In the united states, the former first lady Michelle Obama tried to change school lunches from junk food to more healthy lunches that comprise of vegetables and fruits to reduce childhood obesity. Other community factors that can impact childhood obesity include the policies in the community such as food policies, peer and social supports, the affordability of healthy food options, and marketing and promotion of food products.

The primary consequence of obesity is immediate health risks since children who have obesity are more likely to have high blood pressure and high cholesterol hence putting them at a greater risk of contracting cardiovascular diseases. Further, children who are obese are at a high risk of having impaired glucose tolerance, type2 diabetes, and insulin tolerance. Other health issues that overweight children are likely to have are breathing problems like asthma, joint problems, heartburn, fatty-liver diseases, and musculoskeletal discomfort. Additionally, childhood obesity is connected to psychological problems like anxiety and depression, social problems like bullying and stigma, low self-esteem issues, and reduced self-reported quality of life. Apart from the immediate health risks, there are also future health risks, and one of them is that children who have obesity are more likely to become adults who are obese. Adult obesity is linked with an enhanced risk of serious health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and type 2 diabetes. Finally, children who have obesity are at risk of their obesity and disease risk factors being more severe in the future.

Areas that psychologists need to focus on to address childhood obesity

One area that psychologists need to put all their efforts into is the home of the child because everything in a child begins with the family. Studies that have been done for years have proven that the most successful ways to help kids have the right weight are by making sure that the family’s diet is healthy, the family is interested and involved in physical activities and that the family behaviors are those that do not encourage obesity. Therefore, the lifestyle of a family determines if a child becomes obese or not. Also, for a long time, families have thought that for their overweight kids to not be obese, they have to avoid eating certain foods. However, children lose weight better through behavioral treatments such as eating less of high-calorie foods and eating more fruits and vegetables. These changes in behavior require the support of parents since most obese kids live in families that have obese parents, and these kids follow the behavior of their parents. Therefore, both children and parents have to modify their behavior so that the family can lose weight together, and the kids don’t feel they are alone in this journey. According to some researchers, the trick to help the parents ensure healthy home environments is by limiting computer time or screen time for their kids, removing the television from kids’ rooms, preparing nutritious and healthy foods on a budget, and having a physical activity routine for all the family members. Just teaching parents the healthy basics is not enough to help them deal with their obese children.

Further, it is unrealistic to make people completely change the habits and behaviors that they are used to with just education. Changing behavior requires a lot of close monitoring and time. Therefore, a program can be developed to help the kids and families have the right amount of weight. The program is crucial as it will help build the needed social support and also ensure that routines for healthy behaviors are maintained despite peer pressure or the community environment. Furthermore, when it comes to ensuring a suitable family environment for obese children to reduce their weight, early interventions are essential. Numerous studies have shown that overweight babies become obese kids, and it is more likely for obese kids to become obese adults. Also, obesity is more likely to happen in low-income families, and that is why the government and any other concerned health stakeholders need to focus on making sure that the rate of obesity among the low-income families is reduced or completely eradicated.

Another area of focus is making sure that children live in healthy communities. Good families are not enough since children also spend their time in school, churches, or any other social place within their communities. For instance, schools can decide if their lunches are either healthy or unhealthy, and food is an important determinant when it comes to the obesity of children. Also, schools can make structural changes to include physical activities and healthy behaviors to make sure that all the children have the right weight. In 2010, the United States Congress passed healthy, hunger-free kids act which set new policies for the USDA child nutrition programs. The law, which is still being currently executed, mandates that school meals have to be improving by decreasing fats and increasing whole grains, vegetables, and fresh fruits. The law likewise mandates the USDA to develop nutritional standards for all the competitive foods that are being sold in schools. Generally, in our communities, there need to be laws that make a difference when it comes to obesity. It is why kids who are found in communities that have strict regulations about the selling of snacks and sodas in places where children are found, such as schools. However, not all these places that children spend their time follow the guidelines set.

An example is that some schools do not follow the nutrition programs set by the government since they feel that it will make school meals boring. Additionally, those parents who live in urban communities need to be very careful since there exist many fast food stores in which children can purchase unhealthy meals that very cheap. For instance, these parents can work with store owners to create healthy meals meant for any kids who come to the store to purchase food. Unless the child has a note from the parent, the child then will be given healthy food.

Finally, psychologists need to focus on toxic environments since the obesity crisis is so big, and people need not only focus on the child and the family. To solve this obesity issue effectively, the psychologists need to look at the environment in which people live in. For instance, children who live in a toxic food environment tend to be obese. Also, the commercials that the children watch a daily impact on their behavior and the kind of food they consume. Most of the adverts tempt the kids with images of sugar-sweetened beverages, high-calorie snacks, snacks that have a lot of fats, cookies, and hips.

An example is the Coca-Cola advert, which is almost on every TV channel, and it encourages children to take sugary drinks. Therefore, the government and health stakeholders need to carefully watch food advertisements and generate a report that details how the food companies need to market to the kids. However, monitoring of advertisements is not enough. Guidelines need to be created for the marketing of foods to the children since it is almost impossible to compete with food companies’ influence and financial resources. The government has the power to pass laws that limit food marketing to kids and also adjust prices so that healthy food can be affordable and unhealthy ones expensive. One way to make unhealthy foods expensive is by putting more taxes on these foods. However, psychologists believe that despite the increased taxes on unhealthy foods, it won’t be easy to change the environment that the consumers are used to. For instance, over the years, the food industry has trained persons to snack in between meals, and that is why fast food is so popular, especially among those persons who find it challenging to prepare their meals.

Conclusion

Without a doubt, obesity is still a huge challenge in the world, and researchers and health experts believe that if this challenge is not addressed promptly, it will only get bigger and lead to the illnesses and even deaths in our children. Also, obesity treatment is expensive, and that is why people need to prevent the occurrence of obesity. Further, a majority of the insurance policies do not cover obesity prevention and treatment programs meaning that an overweight child or teenager cannot advantage of these programs. It also means that the families that cannot afford to pay for obesity treatment cannot treat their children when they are at lower weight levels of overweight hence risking the health of these kids in the future.

Moreover, there are so many policies and interventions about obesity, but little has been done to implement these policies and interventions. Therefore, the stakeholders and in particular government, parents and health organizations need to make sure that all policies and interventions are effectively implemented. Further, in addition to the development and execution of treatments, psychology can do a lot more to promote a healthy and active lifestyle hence decreasing childhood obesity. For instance, psychologists can focus their energy on aiding patients to adopt healthier diets and have physical activities program instead of just focusing on weight reduction. Finally, a lot more research has to be done about obesity so that scientists and any other stakeholders can understand issues concerning obesity, such as food addiction and the factors that make children vulnerable to obesity. Research is likewise significant as it helps people understand how food can become rewarding and how parents can augment self-control and executive functioning in kids.