Adolescent Obesity and Depression

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Recommended: contributing factors of depression in adolescents

Obesity causing depression on adolescents is an important topic because depressive symptoms are the beginning phase to depression. These young adults who are clinically obese feel like outsiders and do not feel like they belong in society’s norm. They suffer from daily teasing and put-downs and from other kids because of what they physically look like. Their weight causes them to be rejected from others as well as themselves. Having this happen day after day will lead to a feeling of hopelessness and gradually leading to the early stages of depression. This is a serious turning point because once one becomes depressed they tend to lose their sense of self efficacy. Then which latently leads one to hurt their body even more through eating disorders or other negative effects caused by depression such as bulimia, anorexia or suicidal attempts. Women feel more pressure from societal influences to be thin than men due to the social media. During adolescence, girls experience the increasing pressure to be physically attractive and this demands a physique slimmer than normal. Also the pressures to be thin increases for girls when their bodies hit pubertal development due to the increase of body fat in some areas. Unlike pubertal changes in girls, changes in boys tend to be valued by society. Pubertal changes in girls are often undervalued by society and by girls themselves. Obesity is a common problem in today’s society. Adolescents who suffer from obesity may experience medical concerns such as Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, heart disease or even diabetes. An obese adolescent may experience criticism from peers while finding it difficult to participate to engage in social activities. Considering this fact, one can understand why psycholog...

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...eter J. J. Sauer, Albertine J. Oldehinkel, and Ronald P. Stolk

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