Overweight Teen
Dear Doctor,
Our oldest child, our son, is overweight. He gets teased often, and he pretends he doesn’t care.
He continues to eat and to enjoy foods that are bad for him. This has to be hurting him a lot. Is there anything we can do beyond talk to him?
Overweight’s Mom
Dear Mom,
Being overweight is literally no picnic for teens. A recent study of over four thousand teen respondents showed that several areas of emotional well being appeared to be associated with obesity.
These included body satisfaction, a major issue with teens, and associated self esteem. In addition obese teens showed greater depression and significantly higher suicidal ideation.
The most striking finding was a significantly higher number of suicide attempts. Such attempts were 1.5-3 times higher among the overweight teens. Naturally there could be intervening variables or reasons for the finding.
For example, unhappy kids might be eating more in the first place and thus find their place among the obese. Nonetheless excess weight in teen populations is a serious mental health issue, and you are right to be concerned. Treatment is tricky, especially for a parent. Be proactive without being a nag.
That means not allowing the weight to be an occasion for control battles between you and your son. Watch your own meals and snacks at home. High fat and calorie diets usually have their origins within the family kitchen. Encourage and provide help in nutritional consultation, exercise, and diet control.
This is best accomplished by professionals in those fields. For example, a "cool" trainer or coach will be able to do more than you are likely to accomplish.. Be a facilitator, set up appointments, and talk to those you feel might help your son. Get into a program with your boy. Psychotherapy may, in less frequent instances, be helpful.
Medication is useful if there is an active depression but is not a cure-all. Honest talk from a parent is helpful. This means letting him know you are aware of how he feels and offering whatever help you can.
It does not mean becoming an accuser. "You could, if you only tried.."etc. Lay off the sermons along with the calories.
Tags: body satisfaction, calorie diets, consultation exercise, diet control, excess weight, intervening variables, mental health issue, nutritional consultation, obese teens, obesity, overweight teens, psychotherapy, suicide attempts
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