Studies have shown that bullying or trying to humiliate overweight children into losing weight can lead to emotional difficulties (Levey, 2003).
The emotional difficulties can range from anxiety and depression to low self-esteem; which can snowball into more serious problems like anorexia and bulimia or worst case scenario, suicide. Having a positive reinforcement from parents can help a child not go down a path of self-destruction, but instead give them a better attitude about themselves and a better attitude towards losing weight.
This is so important because overweight kids are more likely to be bullied than kids who are at a healthy weight, according to a study published by the American Academy of Pediatrics of more than 7,200 elementary and high school children (Bhargava, 2011).
That is 7,200 children not liking who they are as people. It is also important that parents know the signs that their child is being bullied after that they need to boost their child’s self-esteem and attitude. If an obese child has a better attitude about themselves then it is going to be easier for the parents to help the child loose weight.
The sources that will be used will be psychological studies and magazines. These can be found in the Ashford Library, Google Scholar, or using ERIC. They can also be found at the local library as well. Other sources like the website webmd.com maybe used as well, but as a secondary source.
One finding is C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital did a national poll on how children are behaving in-light of the anti-obesity effort; their results showed that 30% of parents of children age 6-14 report worrisome eating behaviors and physical activity in their children; 17% of parents report that their children are worried about their weight; 7% say their children have been made to feel bad at school about what or how much they were eating (DeBenedet, 2012).
The Essay on Child/ parent relationship in the Little Boy Crying?
The poem, Little Boy Crying, written by Mervyn Morris is mainly about father and sons relationship. Poet shows the two main themes through this relationship; fathers love towards his child and his effort to lead his child into a right world in life. Mervyn Morris explores the child and parents relationship by using second person narration and language techniques such as allusion and emotive words. ...
If children are made to feel bad about what they are eating this could lead to a low self-esteem or depression. Overweight adolescents, particularly girls, tend to develop negative self-image that persists into adulthood (Lee, 2009).
It is because of these effects parents need to be a positive role model for their children. Parents first, need to let their children know that they can talk to their parents about what is going on without any judgment and that they are loved no matter what. From there parents can create an environment where the child can learn to feel good about themselves (Bryner, 2010).
A parent can do this by looking into different activities the family can do together and help planning the meals. Along with having the child help plan the meals have them in the kitchen helping to make the meal as well. Children are more likely to try things that they have helped prepare.
Levey, A. (2003) Obesity Can Be Harmful To your Child’s Health retrieved from http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2003-10/apa-ocb100103.php Bhargava, H. (2011) When Kids Are Bullied About Weight retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/parenting/raising-fit-kids/weight/talk-obesity-bullying DeBenedet, A. (2012) Is the Fight Against Childhood Obesity Creating Eating Disorders? Retrieved from http://ideas.time.com/2012/02/21/is-the-fight-against-childhood-obesity-creating-eating-disorders/ Lee, Y. S. (2009) Consequences of Childhood Obesity retrieved from http://www.annals.edu.sg/pdf/38VolNo1Jan2009/V38N1p75.pdf Bryner, J. (2010) Chidhood Obesity Takes Psychological Toll, Too retrieved from http://www.livescience.com/6126-childhood-obesity-takes-psychological-toll.html
