emotional and social influences can play a part in making teenagers eat too much

Ukmedix News has recently seen a research project that shows that teenage girls who perceive themselves as being unpopular have a considerably greater risk of putting on weight over the years when compared to those who perceive themselves as being popular.

In all almost 4,500 girls between the ages of twelve and eighteen were asked to note their perceived status on the social ladder using a grading system of between one and ten. The researchers looked at the weight that these girls put on over a two year period and when they compared those girls who had given themselves a score of 5 or more with those girls who had given themselves a score of 4 or less they saw a considerable and statistically significant difference. The results clearly showed that those girls who perceived themselves as being unpopular were almost 70 percent more probable to put on weight and to gain 2 points on the BMI scale.

At Ukmedix News we have seen other research which shows that emotional and social influences can play a big part in making young people eat too much. But it is a vicious circle as when these young people put on weight they become more depressed and their self esteem is lowered further which can make them seek refuge in eating binges.

The researchers led by Adina Lemeshow from the New York City Department of Health were keen to show that low self esteem proceeds obesity and weight gain as opposed to weight gain being the cause of the low self esteem. This research also adds to the weight of evidence it shows that obesity is often triggered off by psychological factors and that one way to treat the condition is to counsel individuals who overeat because of emotional distress and low self esteem.