by Nayibis Pacheco

Created on: October 23, 2008

Could a child be emotionally secure growing up obese?

This is a subject that is of great intrest to me. As I sat in the doctors office, listening to a breastfeeding consultant explain the advantages of breastfeed vs. formula feed infants, I learned some very intresting facts. As an expectant mother, I couldn't help but wonder if obesesity was something that was doomed to happen to a child since the very early infant stage. As this instructor demonstrated that the size of a stomach in a newborn was smaller than a quarter, I realized that the probabilities of wanting to over feed a baby was more than you'd know. As time continues to move foward, we can notice how many of America's standards have changed. We see obesity as a more common part of our structure, but can we call this normal? And just how do children considered obese grow up in relation to other children in healthy standards?

As part of a family that has obese members and among those children under 10, I do mean obese in the sense of weight greatly exceeded for a certain standard, established for an individual, and his/her certain age and height. To me, paying extra attention to the emotional well being of a child, and against other children around the same age is of great importance to the development of the child into adulthood. As we know children are very innocent and sudden in the sense, that if they see something diffrent, like adults, they may not know that its wrong to single someone out. My main concern is the insecurities of being obese as a child and living in a competitive world. Can a child feel insecure, unhappy, and even depressed, when he/she notice the worlds trend to encourage a certain image?

When I think of the image that we see on televisions and those that most kids admire, among some that come to mind is Hannah Montanna, we see her image printed on backpacks, on clothes, on accesories....and many on items that children own. I have 2 particular nieces that sometimes feel uncertain or insecure with themselves. They are both under 10 years of age, but could it be that they feel left out because their image doesn't resemble one like Hannah's? I have seen their confidence shift when they try to make new friends, or when they wear clothes, and sometimes hear them say how they aren't going to eat junk food so they can be skinny. Clearly their weight is causing a lot of insecurities, but does all this reflect on their schoolwork, their friendships, thier lives? When I asked if they liked

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