The Problems of Obesity in Adolescents.
As a society, people are health conscious than ever before, yet America is the fattest country in the world. They look at themselves in the mirror and either encourage or put themselves down. It seems that people are never satisfied with themselves even though they may already be at a "perfect" weight. All these ideas have probably started at the adolescent stage. Being an obese child may cause many different problems during their life and all the more as an adult. Some think that when there is obesity in a child, their reason is that it's just "baby fat". However, when it exceeds to the end of the adolescent stage, it is too late leading to crucial problems that may be awfully hard to fix. People often go through great lengths to get rid of the fact that they are obese, without knowing the real cause of it and how to prevent or help cure it. It has been proven by the researches done by people such as Ruth Wharton, and Ruth W. Crocker on their studies in Adolescent Obesity that obesity in adolescents may cause psychological and physical problems.
When one thinks of obesity, physical characteristics may be the only feature that pops in their head; but psychological problems are also vital aspects, and may even be more imperative. During the adolescent stage, looks may be the only thing that is important to them, the only thing that can make them fit in, and if the result is bad, then it may lead to psychological problems such as low self-esteem. Peers make fun of how fat they are not thinking of what they actually feel inside. A report from the American Academy of Pediatrics asked about adolescents having "poor self-esteem" and their findings showed 80% to 92% we"re often "being teased about weight". Since this is a high rating, it shows that self-esteem may be a big factor of being an obese teenager. Work by Gortmaker, an author of other obesity-youth journals demonstrates "that women who were overweight during adolescence were more likely to have likely to have negative sociodemographic experiences"(Trent 3).
