Obesity Takes Emotional Toll on Teens
Excerpt By Andrew Stern, Reuters Health

Overweight teen-agers may have fewer friends than their normal-weight peers and suffer higher rates of depression and suicide if teased about being fat, a pair of studies said on Monday.

The prevalence of obesity among children has reached epidemic proportions in many developed nations, with an estimated 15 percent of U.S. adolescents considered obese. Diets containing too many fatty snack foods and a lack of exercise are usually blamed by researchers, though genetic factors can play a role.

A University of Minnesota study published in a theme issue on obesity in The Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine found a strong association between the teasing endured by overweight teen-agers and rates of depression, low body satisfaction, low self-esteem and eating disorders.

"Of particular concern are the alarming rates of suicidal ideation and attempts associated with weight-based teasing, which are two to three times as high among those who were teased compared with those not teased," study author Marla Eisenberg wrote.

The recent study of nearly 5,000 teen-agers in the Minneapolis area found 26 percent of teens who were teased at school and at home reported they had considering suicide and 9 percent had attempted to kill themselves. Thirty-six percent of the teased girls reported being depressed, and 19 percent of the boys.

Eisenberg said that toning down teasing would require educating peers and family members about the impact of their derogatory comments on sensitive adolescents, while trying to help overweight children learn to better deal with it.

Another problem for overweight teen-agers is that they have fewer friends than their normal-weight peers, though they may not realize their lack of popularity, a second study in the journal said.

"Overweight adolescents were more likely to be socially isolated and to be peripheral to social networks than were normal-weight adolescents," wrote Richard Strauss of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey and Harold Pollack of the University of Michigan.

Among the 17,500 adolescents aged 13 to 18 surveyed, those who were overweight listed similar numbers of friends as their normal-weight peers, but they were picked as friends by an average of 3.4 others compared to an average 4.8 nominations received by normal-weight peers.

Fewer friends translates into reduced "social capital," the researchers said, which in turn can shape a person's "economic status, educational attainment, job seeking, mental health and general well-being."

Reference Source 89

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