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Obesity can lead to multiple problems in life. Being overweight can affect a child's social development and it has also been associated with long-term health problems.
social effects:
low self esteem and bullying: Overweight children are often teased and bullied by their peers. This results in a loss of self-esteem and an increased risk of depression.
behavior and learning problems: There is a tendency for overweight children to have more anxiety and inferior social skills than normal-weight children. These can lead to acting out and disrupting the classroom or it may cause social withdrawal. Stress and anxiety also interfere with learning. School-related anxiety can create a vicious cycle in which ever-growing worry fuels ever-declining academic performance.
depression: Hispanics are already at-risk for depression. Social isolation and low self-esteem can create overwhelming feelings of hopelessness in some overweight children. When a child feels that his or her life will never improve, he or she is even closer to depression. A depressed child may lose interest in normal activities, sleep more than usual, or cry a lot while some depressed children appear emotionally flat in order to hide their sadness.
health:
Hispanics are particularly prone to Diabetes and Heart Disease. Obese children are likely to have these problems early on in their lives and will carry them into an obese adulthood. If this trend continues, obesity may soon top smoking as the nation's most preventable cause of death. Health problems include:
- Diabetes
- Metabolic Syndrome
- High Blood Pressure
- Asthma and other respiratory problems
- Sleep Disorders
- Liver Disease
- Early Puberty
- Eating Disorders
- Skin Infections
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