Childhood Obesity

Childhood obesity and excess weight is commonly seen as a health problem. The long-term effects of childhood obesity are physiologically understood and commonly believed to contribute to physical health problems such as high blood pressure, cholesterol, liver disease, etc.

A common misperception is that being, overweight leads to emotional issues.
We would like to suggest that the opposite is actually the main problem.

Emotional issues, the lack of coping skills, the inability to comprehend and manage their perceptions of the world are more often what lead to childhood obesity and overweight conditions. Would also like to suggest that being overweight may be a stage that a child goes through while learning to manage their inner feelings.
Yes there are some who will argue it is genetic, it is the food etc. we are not negating that this does have some factor. We are suggesting that the deeper causes of childhood obesity occur because of the emotional state, emotional traumas or misperceptions of a child. There is the possibility that the child is unconsciously using the weight and the food to comfort and numb themselves. This is done because of their inability to cope with and understand their feelings and experiences.
From this perspective childhood obesity can lead to adult obesity if the trauma and misperceptions have never been resolved. Resolution does not only take place from a mental understanding. At the core of resolving these problems is the resolution of the emotional traumas and or misperceptions that cause a child or adult to over eat and hold on to the weight.

As a result of childhood obesity the child/future adult may be more prone to noticeable emotional issues as well as physical or medical problems. As a child some of these difficulties are not easily noticeable and only become evident as an adult when they are able to express themselves. As an adult they may tend to act out or be extremely withdrawn in a way that others can more plainly see.

We agree that physical care and nutritional understanding is required to manage obesity. However we would like to suggest that without addressing the emotional state, emotional traumas and misperceptions that childhood obesity will be a lifelong struggle. From our experience at Teamwork Wins we have seen that when these difficulties have been addressed childhood obesity often goes into reversal.
For what you can do about childhood obesity please look for our next article.