Impact of Obesity on Self Esteem of Children and Teenagers in US

Running head: PSYCHOLOGY
Psychology
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Topic: how obesity contributes in developing low-self esteem?
Introduction
Background
Obesity is considered to be one of the major problems in the United States. This problem
has majorly affected the teenagers of the nation. According to a survey conducted in the year
2017, 31 percent of the teenagers are overweight and 16 percent are obese. While majority of the
doctors as well as parents are concerned about the physical impact of obesity, very few of them
are seems to be concerned about its physiological impacts. Recent studies have shown that more
than 81 percent of the obese teens have lower self esteem compared to his or her non obese peers
(Harrist et al., 2012).
Research Question
The research question of this research is “How obesity contributes in developing low-self
esteem?”
Literature review
According to Pizzi and Vroman, (2013), obesity significantly affects the physiological health
of children. While majority of the physicians as well as parents focuses on the physical health as
well as difficulties in the motor function faced by the child, the psychological issues that a child
face for growing up being overweight is often ignored. This research has pointed out how
childhood obesity creates weigh bias as well as victimization. (Harrist et al., 2012) have pointed
out low self esteem as one of the major consequences of victimization for being overweight. Low

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self esteem if not treated for a prolonged period of time possess the potential to give birth to
fatal psychological issues like depression, anxiety and even suicidal attitudes.
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to analyze as well as evaluate the impact of obesity on the self
esteem of the children and teenagers in US. In this study the researcher will analyze the factors
associated with obesity that impose effect on the self esteem of the teenagers.
Prediction
The expected outcome of this research includes that obesity does impose a huge impact on
the self esteem of the children.
Method
Participants:
For collection of data, a survey has been conducted. The total number of samples who had
been selected for the survey was 100. Out of the 100, samples, 20 samples whose BMI rate is
more than 25 have been selected as the participants of the research paper.
Materials
The chief materials that had been used for conducing the survey include online surveys and
Microsoft excel. The online survey sites have been used to develop the questionnaire for the
survey and conduct it. Once the survey was complete, excel sheet was used for analyzing the
findings and developing graphs with respect to the same.
Procedures

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The participant of the survey was selected through random sampling method. Initially, the
link for the survey was posted in 3 popular social media pages. From the responses obtained,
randomly 100 samples were chosen. Out of them, samples with BMI higher than 25 were chosen
for this research. All the participants were informed about the purpose of the survey and no
sample was pressurized. No ethical issues were faced during the whole procedure.
Result
55% of the participants are female. More than 80% are fall the age range between 10 to 39. 80%
of the participants are obese. 70% are agreed about acing social consequences due to being obase
or overweight.
Discussion
As being previously predicted, obesity has been found to impose a huge amount of negative
impact on the self esteem of the children as well as teenagers of UK. it hinders the development
of self esteem of the same and thus posses the potential to cause several psychological issues like
depression and anxiety.
Interpretation of the findings
It has been found that society plays a major role in diminishing the self esteem of the
teenagers as well as hindering the development of the same in the children (Bray et al., 2018).
The unrealistic beauty standards set by the society, makes children as well as children suffering
from obesity feel that they are not pretty enough to be accepted by the society. This lack of self
esteem from childhood affects their educational as well as professional life during adulthood. It