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The effects of child sexual abuse (poor self esteem, poor body image, impulsive behavior and drug abuse) are common predictors of the binge eating and obesity. That is, compulsive eating may be one way to manage the depression related to child sexual abuse. Other factors in the connection between child sexual abuse and obesity, along with eating disorders, might include a desire to “de-sexualize” to protect against further abuse, as well as a range of psychiatric conditions (depression, anxiety, sleep disturbances, physical complaints, phobic reactions, low self esteem, suicidal feelings and substance abuse).
Here is my latest article for the Obesity Action Coalition: "Children & Obesity: What Caregivers Can Say To Help"
Here is an easy thing to do to help your child stay a healthy weight. Encourage your child to run, skip or hop for just five minutes several times a day. Remember when you were a kid and you ran because you felt like running. Or maybe you were a hopper, or a skipper. Skipping home from school or to a friend’s house to play. These fast, spontaneous bouts of physical activity, researchers learned, can help fight childhood obesity, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.
Do you hear your child when they are sleeping? Snoring, heavy or noisy breathing, and gasps for breath are all signs that they are not getting a good nights rest. Childhood obesity is linked to many breathing problems that can leave your child tired, irritable, and not able to think clearly during the day.
If you are a parent of an extremely obese child you may need to consider bariatric surgery to help your child achieve a healthy weight. Children as young as 8 years have become candidates for bariatric surgery to reduce life threatening conditions. There are several serious issues raised when performing bariatric surgery on children. Here is a list of 10 things every parent needs to know and should expect from their doctors if their child is having bariatric surgery.
Denial runs deep in some families about what is a healthy weight. Sometimes parents are not able to recognize that their preteen or teenager is obese, often dismissing the issue with ‘their big boned” or “she’s a little on the heavy side.”
Childhood obesity is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). 1 in 3 children in the United States is overweight or obese. Nearly 60 percent of overweight children have at least one cardiovascular risk factor because they are overweight. Childhood is a critical time for preventing obesity and the development of CVD risk factors and ultimately CVD in adults.