by Annie Kaycora

Created on: October 23, 2008

We are certainly in the right country to even have a multitude of children this is applicable to. Every single day, I see obese children at the grocery store, at the mall, at the park, and just about anywhere children can be found. First and foremost, the parents deserve all the fault there is to be had. A two year old little girl didn't pick up all the junk food at the grocery store while on her way home from her job! Mom and Dad did that, and also allowed the child to eat as much as they want.

Children who are physically or mentally different from the average generally have serious emotional hardship. You can count on self esteem flying out the door so fast, it'll leave a trail of smoke behind. When a child is obese, they are likely facing brutally honest peers at school, as other children will point out the difference in size in a not-so-friendly manner. At lunch time, the child may develop an insecurity of eating too much in front of peers, or may barely be able to help themselves and eat massively as they would at home, which would then lead to several disapproving glance from fellow classmates. When the child comes home, where they should feel comforted and safe, they can turn the TV on to Nickelodeon, Disney, etc. and see that other children their age aren't obese. Moreover, the obese children on these TV shows are often depicted as loners, losers, outcasts, or just downright ridiculous and goofy.

With most children, the biggest form of motivation, and the greatest desire tends to be that of ACCEPTANCE. Kids want to fit in, and of course, have tons of fun all the time. As soon as a child feels like 'the ugly duckling', they can begin to develop voids that might result in addictive habits, and likely results in more binge eating (Much like a girl that just got dumped by her boyfriend, stuffing her face with ice cream, candy, cake, and more -in hopes to fill an emotional void) I believe when children develop these voids, they can drift down a path of exclusion, violence, binge eating, all the while, harboring much resentment and anger for society, or just people in general.

Clothing shopping for new clothes every year, probably isn't as great as it's chalked up to be for obese children either. Regular sizes don't fit and they find themselves in their own dedicated XXL section of the store, if not in their own specialty store altogether. Having to have a different lifestyle can really damage a child's self esteem. In physical education, mandatory sports hour

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