Weight-based Victimization

           It seems as if bullying these days is becoming the new trend because so many children are made fun of in high school, middle school, and even as early as elementary school. Adolescents can be bullied and tortured by their peers for numerous reasons, and they can be affected negatively -- emotionally and physically. With obesity increasing at an alarming rate, it is only inevitable that children will be victimized more for their weight. According to the article, “Weight-Based Victimization Among Adolescents in the School Setting: Emotional Reactions and Coping Behaviors” written by Rebecca Puhl and Joerg Luedicke, teenagers who are bullied for their weight are more likely to suffer from emotional and eating disorders, have problems in school, and will have a pessimistic and low self-esteem.

            It is no secret that obesity is becoming more of a problem now than ever before. It is very important that children start to take care of their weight at a young age because those good habits will influence them as adults. It is also important because they can develop severe health conditions and can be a victim of bullying. Recent research shows that adolescents observe (and experience) weight-based teasing to be the most common form of bullying at school (Puhl, 28). The victimization that was researched included verbal and physical, but for both types, there are serious consequences for the emotional and physical health for the children being teased. There is evidence that the victims of bullying can potentially be academically affected by showing poorer classroom performance and an increased school avoidance (Puhl & Luedicke, 28).

            Besides for health risks and academic problems, weight-based victimization can also influence eating disorders. Adolescents made fun of for their weight can increase vulnerability, depression, and low self-esteem, which can lead to certain disordering including binge eating, bulimia, and anorexia (Puhl & Luedicke, 29). The authors claim that there is very little information regarding the study of victimizing and its relation to eating disorders so in order to ensure the most accurate results, they set up specific questionnaires to gather data. This data shows different places and the frequency of victimization that occurred in those places; the lunchroom and the locker room being the top two. The data also shows that these adolescents feel badly about their bodies and that they are likely to resort to unhealthy coping behaviors. Girls, more than boys, are affected negatively and result to eating disorders, binge eating being the most prevalent (Puhl & Luedicke, 37).

            In conclusion, bullying has become more and more apparent and can seriously hurt its victims. Bullies that focus on weight- based victimization can lead their victims to feel depressed and unhappy about themselves. Because of this kind of teasing, adolescents will resort to different methods in order to cope. They might try to avoid school, resulting in poor grades and experiences. It is possible that they might also engage in different eating disorders in order to make themselves feel better. Binge eating seems to be the most popular because the teenagers ate more to cover up their upset feelings. It's unfortunate that students are suffering so much because of their struggling weight issues, but there should also be more attention focused on helping these people positively cope instead of negatively.

Work Cited

Puhl, Rebecca M., and Joerg Luedicke. "Weight-Based Victimization Among Adolescents In The School Setting: Emotional Reactions And Coping Behaviors." Journal Of Youth And Adolescence 41.1 (2012): 27-40. ERIC. Web. 23 Feb. 2012.

Obesity

             The article I chose to research and write about is titled, “Childhood and Adolescent Obesity: Psychological and Behavioral Issues in Weight Loss Treatments” by David Sarwer and Rebecca Dilks. I chose the topic of obesity because, like eating disorders, it is increasingly becoming a huge problem in adolescents and even adults. According to Sarwer and Dilks, childhood and adolescent obesity has tripled in the past few decades. It’s fairly clear that obesity can affect health tremendously and can even lead to an early death. Adolescents who are overweight can also suffer from social problems from being made fun of and having less confidence in themselves to achieve. It’s possible that this could also lead to depression and other psychological disorders. The authors explain surgical procedures to limit obesity; one to adjust the gastric banding and the other is gastric bypass. Like any surgery, there are risks and side effects. Scientists and doctors have recently been doing these surgeries for teenagers who have just turned eighteen, but there are concerns about whether or not this leads to more side effects. I believe this surgery should be limited to only severe obesity conditions and that enriching children with proper diet and eating habits now can help prevent obesity in the long run. Obesity is a dangerous disease, mostly in the United States, that should be taken seriously for the health of this generation and future generations (Sarwer & Dilks, 98-102).

            Data shows that around 31% of children in America are overweight, which is around five million children. Data also shows that obese children now are more likely to become obese in adulthood. This could cause many serious health problems with the heart, diabetes, liver diseases, and much more (Sarwer & Dilks, 99). Researches have been investigating programs in school that teach students about nutrition, exercise, and the dangers that can occur when you are not cautious of health. Unfortunately, it is unlikely that this will stop obesity completely, but hopefully it can help even slightly. Many young adults who lose a significant amount of weight are at a higher risk of gaining much of that weight back. Much of this has to do with proper habits that should have been adapted at a younger age. It should be logical that if adolescents practice healthy living now, they will try to continue those same habits into adulthood.

            Besides from good health habits, medical procedures should also be taken very seriously. There will always be some sort of risk when preforming surgery, but there are benefits. If done right, these specific surgeries can eliminate up to 50% of excess body weight. There can also be behavioral and psychological complications after, like depression, suicide, substance use, and disordered eating (Sarwer & Dilks, 100). Scientists are looking for ways to help and improve the obesity rate in the future, but for now, I believe that children should be learning the right habits and that people should not look to surgery to fix obesity.

Works Cited

Sarwer, David B., and Rebecca J. Dilks. "Childhood and Adolescent Obesity -- Psychological and Behavioral Issues in Weight Loss Treatment." Journal of Youth and Adolescence 41 (2012): 98-104. ERIC. Web. 15 Feb. 2012.

Academic Article

While researching for articles related to my “Healthy Living” topic, I came across one titled, “Weight Perception, Substance Use, and Disordered Eating Behaviors: Comparing Normal Weight and Overweight Students”. The authors of this article performed an experiment on adolescents in the United States with and without certain eating disorders. They tested teens with no eating disorders, teens that purge, that fast, and those that take diet pills. The study was meant to examine the relationships of the perception of weight and substance use on certain disordered eating behaviors. These investigators hypothesized that disordered eating behaviors can be associated with substance usage and can both lead to very serious health problems (poor nutrition, impaired psychosocial development, body image difficulties, and possibly premature death).

According to previous research, unhealthy weight control behaviors are prevalent in approximately 12.4% of adolescent girls and 4.6% of adolescent boys. Also, nearly 50% of adolescents have used tobacco and almost 70% have reported a repeating use of alcohol. With an increase rate of obesity, the perception of being overweight increases as well as the chances of eating disorders. Research shows that females are more likely to experience these disorders than males by a ratio of 10:1, but this gap is slowly decreasing and may even be at a ratio of 3:1 now.

For this experiment, 11,103 individuals from 195 different schools were included. There was a mixture of different genders and races used as well. To test these adolescents, the body mass index was taken following various questionnaires relating to the perception of weight, substance use, and disorders eating behaviors. In order to test the perception on their weight, the test subjects were asked to describe their weight as very underweight, slightly underweight, normal, slightly overweight, or very overweight. Then they were asked how many times they used drugs, smoked cigarette, or drank in the past 30 days. They found that females were 3.1 more likely than males to believe that they were overweight. In this study, 11.2% of the 11,103 individuals have fasted, 5.1% took diet pills, and 3.8% purge. Many were even involved in more than one of these disordered eating behaviors. In addition, the results show that people who regularly use cocaine and drink are more likely to have eating disorders. Cigarette smokers were also more likely to engage in some sort of unnatural eating disorder. Overall, there was a significant relationship between eating disorders and substance use in the adolescents tested.

Works Cited

Eichen, Dawn M., Bradley T. Conner, Brian P. Daly, and Robert L. Fauber. "Weight Perception, Substance Use, and Disordered Eating Behaviors: Comparing Normal Weight and Overweight Students." Journal of Youth Adolescence (2012): 1-13. ERIC. Web. 1 Feb. 2012.