Welcome to slimthekids.com
The civilized world’s place to get the skinny on childhood obesity
What Over-weight Kids Have to Contend With
Children with weight management problems experience more than meets the eye. There are of course, the physical implications that can develop from a weight management problem, but there are also the emotional, social, and even economic implications which are seldom spoken of, but are of great significance. Once again, all of the conditions and circumstances below are compounding in that one complication can create or trigger another and often work together to worsen an existing weight management problem.
The Social and Emotional Implications
- Overweight kids tend to be less popular than athletic or physically fit children
- Overweight kids are often physically restricted which often brings social exclusion (such as in the only period of gym a kid may get throughout the week or at recess). From this, children will experience withdrawal, and will then seek other forms of entertainment-often less physical demanding or stagnant forms of entertainment such as internet chat rooms or seated video gaming.
- Over weight children face ridicule and are often the target of bullying
- Low self-esteem will develop
- Lack of confidence
- Depression
- Eating disorders as a result of any of the above situations or concerns, which moves us nicely into the domain of the physical implications associated with childhood obesity.
Let’s expand a bit. All of the above can be directly linked to the classroom. Obesity alters body chemistry, and as some studies suggest can inhibit learning through the over-or under- production of certain hormones and chemical combinations essential to the learning process. But let’s keep it straight and simple and take this angle- the more oxygen you have in your blood, the better things work. Asphyxiated people usually don’t think very well. Not that children who are over weight are asphyxiated, but they are certainly not very enthusiastic about moving and exercising, and less moving means less oxygen in the blood and less oxygen in the blood means less oxygen in the brain and a barrier to maximized learning ability. Combine that with depression or low self-esteem obesity can cause and we have the makings of an under-achieving student.
Here’s our jab at the educational system!!!!
Stop limiting physical education requirements…more gym…more arts…and get rid of the closed campus policies and let the kids run a bit!!!
Sorry…it was a jab and a hook. The Physical Implications Children of today are commonly encountering physical complications that were relatively non-existent to children of several generations before and were considered to be uniquely “adult” in nature. The Future….. Ah, the rarely talked of economic implications of childhood obesity. These are unique because they exist in two tenses….the present and the future and really cover a lot of ground. Let’s begin with the personal cost of treating any one of the above illnesses obesity has or will create. These expenses include everything from surgery, to the cost of special diets or medications that may be required, to the cost of transportation and everything in between. Transportation is an interesting one because it has so many avenues that can be taken. We have the cost of gas, the cost of vehicle maintenance, the cost of public transportation, insurance…all of which could be significantly lowered by walking or biking. What would do for the environment??? By the way, be sure to check out our...
Unfortunately children grow up, and it happens rather quickly. The problem grows exponentially with age in that if the weight doesn’t come off by adulthood, the stakes drastically go up. God forbid (yes, we said God) anything should ever happen to anyone, but things do happen at one point or another and can happen at any time. Aside from creating complications during surgery- surgery which may be needed to correct issues caused by any one of the above concerns. The list of the complications obesity can cause for an adult is long and depressing so we will save you the torture. However, if you would like to see slimthekids.com add the adult complications list for effect…drop us a line!
The Economic Implications
Lean,
Mean,
And
Green
Challenge
Let’s move on to some other economic issues of the future. Some studies have suggested that “prettier” people are given more opportunity in life then are “less attractive” people. In this sense it could be suggested that obese people might possibly have a harder time in the job market than do more physically fit people. This could certainly apply to more physically demanding jobs as employers might be less inclined to take on a potential health risk or insurance cost. What about less physically demanding jobs, such as sales or marketing? Do prettier people sell better? How about the cost of larger or specialized clothing to accommodate an obesity problem?
