To Be the Fat Kid

The physical health risks of being overweight have become common knowledge. It seems everyone knows about hypertension, heart disease, and diabetes thanks to the news and television. However, mass media rarely if ever reports on the psychological ramifications of obesity. These effects are very real and anyone who has been overweight can attest that they are serious.

These effects are felt strongest by overweight children. Childhood is a time to carve out one's identity, and to have that identity tarnished by one's peers can have damaging effects that can continue into adulthood.

The overweight child is often singled out and mocked by peers. The old adage "kids can be so cruel" is multiplied tenfold for the obese. Overweight children are frequently left out of social activities, especially athletic or physical games. The fear of being picked last for the team is an everyday occurrence for the obese child.

As an overweight child myself, I was subject to humiliation every moment of the school day. There were times that were worse than others, of course, but the fear of being ostracized was very real at all times. Lunch, gym, and the school bus were the worst. These are all times when children are under a less watchful eye than that of a teacher in a classroom, which makes it much easier to be nasty without fear of repercussion. This, of course, makes it nearly impossible to seek the aid of a teacher or other authority figure. They are at the complete mercy of the other children, and mercy is not commonplace in an elementary school.

Gym class brings out that age-old fear of exclusion in any child, especially an overweight one. The locker room is torture, being picked last is inevitable, and every mistake made in a game is an opportunity for weight-related lampooning. Miss catching a high ball and you're too fat to jump. If you can't get to the next base you're too fat to run fast. This trend can be applied to any sport.

Much like gym revolves around exercise, lunch revolves around food, and thus is a living hell for the overweight child. What you eat, how much you eat, and how fast you eat is under scrutiny. There is also the problem of where to sit. There is little more indicative of social status and popularity than the lunch table. The obese join the socially outcast and eat alone or with a very few others. If forced to sit together as a class, the outcast are banished to the ends of the table, surrounded by empty chairs.

The school bus is a veritable free-for-all of child cruelty. Generally, the only authority figure is the driver, who is too busy with the road to pay attention to the kids unless something catastrophic happens. The usual childhood teasing goes unnoticed. Thus, the children are free to victimize their overweight peers. Names are given, the victim's backpack is taken and emptied, the overweight child is not allowed a place to sit, and it otherwise mocked and made to feel worthless.

To the general public, this may seem like little more than the normal childhood teasing, a rite of passage. But for the overweight child, the teasing is more intense, and it is constant. Unlike normal childhood name-calling, what the obese child experiences begins to bleed into every aspect of their life. Their self-esteem erodes to nearly nothing, which effects their performance in school. It can also lead to depression, which can lead to school absence and even suicide.

It is also often assumed that with adulthood this ends. Even if the overweight child loses weight, or their peers mature and leave them alone, the effects of childhood follow them. Low self-esteem often stays with a person even if weight is lost. A lack of confidence can effect work performance and relationships. Depression can also continue into adulthood. Someone who is or was overweight often requires therapy to help with the negative psychological effects. When isolated incidences are recalled, symptoms can worsen. While writing this, I recalled many painful memories and felt depression worse than I have in a long time. In my twenties, I am still feeling the effects of how I was treated by my elementary school peers. I know I will spend the rest of my life struggling with depression and low self-esteem, and I can't help but place much of the blame on those who made fun of me as a child. I am still struggling to work past it.

There are obvious ways to prevent this from happening to future generations, and they involve both the overweight child and their thin peers. Children need to be taught at an early age to make healthy lifestyle choices to prevent obesity. A balanced diet and regular exercise are habits every child should learn, whether they have a tendency towards obesity or not. Children also need to be taught tolerance and acceptance. Much like how children should be taught not to make fun of someone because they are of a different race or have a disability, they should be taught to be accepting of someone who has problems with their weight. Children should be taught healthy body image at an early age so they realize that there are many types of bodies out there and that no one is better than another. When a child is being victimized, teachers, administrators, and parents need to step in and stop it.

Obviously, there are many negative effects of being overweight, and those are both physical and psychological. Both are difficult to deal with throughout life, but the psychological effects are especially strong during youth, when the teasing and exclusion by other children is excruciating. The impact of this can be felt into adulthood, leading to depression, low self-esteem, poor performance at work and school, and problems with relationships. If steps are taken at an early age, this can be avoided. Parents need to teach healthy eating and exercise habits to their children while they are still very young to avoid obesity. Children also need to learn acceptance of peers whose appearance differs from their own, so that those children who are predisposed towards being overweight don't feel victimized and ostracized. If good habits are taught to all children at a young age, the negative effects of childhood obesity can potentially be avoided.