Obesity Physical and Psychosocial Long-term Effects Group 11

Cholesterol  Children should be checked as young as 2 years old  According to American Heart Association if one parent is obese, children are required to be checked at 3 years of age  Overweight children are two times more likely to have high cholesterol  By age 3, if a child is overweight or obese, they are in the first stage of atherosclerosis

Health Costs  30 billion dollars a year  Health Coverage 37% higher for obese people Tax payers pay 50% of medical bills Other 50% is paid by Medicare or Medicaid  Dental cost increase because of increase of candy, soda, and other foods high in sugar.

Emotional/Psychological Problems  Negative self-esteem  Withdrawal  Depression  Anxiety  Chronic rejection  Discrimination  Rate their lives as low as cancer patients since depression and obesity are a continuous cycle, it is extremely hard to get help.

Depression  Positive correlation More obese – More depressed  More water retention  Boys are more likely to have weight-related depression than girls Boys have problems with authority figures  Medication can increase weight a significant amount, which in return makes a person depressed.  Media focuses more on girls and the perfect image  Girls have a harder time accepting weight change than boys.

Physical Problems  Orthopedic problems walking, running, exercise  Due to cardiovascular problems Skin disorders Psychiatric needs Problem playing sports Fatigue Sleeping disorders

Inside the Body  60% of children are overweight 5 to 10 years old have one of these problems because of obesity Cardiovascular risk factors High blood pressure Hyper-lipidemia fat cells Elevated insulin levels  20% of children have two or more risk factors Increased risk for diabetes and heart attack

Other Facts….  Obese people have a shorter life expectancy of 5 years less than a healthy person  70 – 80% of children who suffer from obesity carry their disease to adulthood  Increased television watching increases risk for obesity  Only 5 – 25% of children’s obesity is hereditary

More Facts….  Hormonal imbalance is fewer than 1 out of 100 for obesity  Childhood obesity very rarely is due to hormonal or genetic defects  A child who has one parent who is obese has a 50% chance of becoming obese  A child who has two parents who are obese has an 80% chance of becoming obese  Obesity is the result of eating disorders

Final Thoughts  With the decrease in activity levels, the obesity percentage will increase  Obesity is the most common health problem in childhood today  In addition to other cardiovascular problems, obesity increases chances of type 2 diabetes gallbladder disease respiratory disease cancer gout digestive problems arthritis