Effects of obesity in children
... health problems that will surface later on in life. For example, a child who is obese will have excessive weight gain which will lead to secondary problems such as: adult-onset asthma, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, arthritis, shortness of breath and the list could continue. Children who are obese will most likely become obese adults, and adults who are obese often have other complications. Many of those who were obese all their lives will have heart complications. Obesity often leads to diabetes when the child grows up into an adult. These diseases are all reasonably dangerous, and result largely from being so overweight. Many of the children who are overweight or obese suffer psychologically. They have what is often called the "last-to-be-picked-in-gym-class" syndrome. They do not excel in sports, and therefore become discouraged from doing them. This is not something and overweight child needs to feel. These children need to enter into sports, and not feel inferior to all the other kids. Kids are not the nicest people in the world when they are young, and so an overweight child may be made fun of throughout their school life. This promotes "skipping". Children who do not feel as though they are well liked won’t enjoy their schooling. Students who feel inferior at school won’t try as hard, and then do poorly. Feeling inferior, and doing poorly brings me to my last point. Many of the children who are obese are made fun of. Children who are made fun of don’t like themselves. This could lead into serious psychological problems, one of which is when a child "eats away" their pain. Food becomes an emotional aid. This is a never-ending cycle. More common in teenagers, these young people will eat because they don’t like themselves, what they look like ect. This will lead to additional weight gain, which will in the end make the child not like himself even more which will start the cycle all over again. Emotional eating could lead into some scary disease such as bulimia and/or anorexia. These diseases are when a child, again most often teenagers, try to take control of their weight, by controlling their eating habits. Some will stop eating altogether; however most will do what is known as "binge" eating. Binge eating is when a person is overwhelmed by something and "eats away" their pain, but will regret doing so. To rectify over eating, a bulimic person will rid their body of the food. In conclusion, the effects of obesity in children are great. Many children will suffer li...