As of 2008, 20 percent of American kids aged 6 to 11, and 18 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 19 were obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Overweight youngsters are often teased by their peers and even family members. Sylvia Rimm, author of the book, "Rescuing the Emotional Lives of Overweight Children," surveyed 5,000 youngsters and found they felt less popular and intelligent than their classmates. Some turn to diets, which exposes them to nutritional dangers.
Lack of Nutrients
Kids need vitamins, minerals and other nutrients as they grow and develop physically and enter adolescence. Teens Health, a Nemours Hospital wellness site, warns that certain diets are dangerous for youngsters because they don't provide enough nutrition. The worst diets are extremely low-calorie eating plans or diets that restrict certain food categories. For example, Teens Health explains that low-fat or fat-free diets are bad because youngsters should get up to a third of their daily calories from fat.
Self-Esteem
Youngsters who diet run the risk of developing low self-esteem because they mentally link their self-worth to their physical size. Healthy Weight Network, a dieting and eating disorders website, explains that kids become self-conscious about their weight when friends, family members and others make negative comments. They also judge themselves based on media images of the ideal body. They get a self-esteem boost if they diet and lose weight, but they become more self-conscious if they cannot maintain their progress.
The National Institutes of Health warns that adolescents with low-self esteem have a higher risk of developing depression. Depressed youngsters are more prone to attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, bipolar disorder, anxiety problems and eating disorders.
Eating Disorders
Kids who diet can develop eating disorders if they do not believe they are losing weight quickly enough or if they crave praise from others for shedding excess pounds. Teens Health warns that one or two out of every 100 students struggles with an eating disorder. They are dangerous because they cause sufferers to gorge on food, then purge it with vomiting or laxatives, called bulimia; or to stop eating enough food to sustain themselves, called anorexia.
Physical effects include stomach pain, anemia, potassium depletion, dizziness and damage to the kidneys, stomach and teeth. Kids with eating disorders often continue dieting even when they've reached a healthy weight because they develop a distorted body image. They often try to hide the problem from family and friends with baggy clothes, which can delay discovery and treatment.
Member Comments