Childhood Obesity And Depression
If it is true to say that obesity can cause your child to be depressed, then, equally, we may say that depression can be the cause of childhood obesity.
In the circumstance of the child already being obese, depression, stress and anxiety will all play a role in the complexities of their lives. In many cases the obese child’s sole means of comfort lie in the fact that both parents are obese, thus engendering a feeling of normalness and protection from the catcalls and abuse received outside the home environment.
In these circumstances the only available route to happier, healthier lives is a change of family lifestyle resulting in a maintained weight loss. When both parents have a healthy weight the obese child frequently suffers horribly, and never more so than as an adolescent. Are children wearing glasses still called “Four eyes”? Much worse appellants are used on obese children and teens. How on earth can they respond to such behaviour?
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I recently read an article written by the mother of two teenage boys titled “Living with the Enemy”. The enemy she wrote of, with a great deal of love and no little concern, were her sons. All parents of teenagers will know or will remember how difficult they can be, but it is, after all, normal for them to be difficult! Recognising when they have an unnatural level of depression is more demanding.
If one or more of these signs of depression persist, parents should seek help:
Recurrent unhappiness and weeping
Lost interest in things which they have previously enjoyed.
Loss of interest in life, maybe even talking of suicide.
Always complaining of stomachache or headache. (If the teen is obese this may be a way of avoiding going to school)
Threatening to leave home, and/or live alone.
Minor criminality, eg. thieving or vandalism.
Constant expressions of boredom coupled with a low level of energy.
Poor concentration.
An upsurge in instability, anger and hostility.
Unusually conscious of rejection and/or failure.
Social isolation, poor communication.
A marked change in eating habits.
This last item is where we came in. It’s very often the easiest clue of all to spot, and is the point at which overweight and, if left unchecked, obesity begins.
Please remember that should your child be already obese, many of the conditions listed above, may apply, and more especially when neither of the parents is overweight. Childhood depression is recognized as an illness, whereas childhood obesity, for all the attention it’s receiving, has no such classification. Strange, don’t you think?
Information source: American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.
