The Psychological Effects of Childhood Obesity free essay sample

There is no specific reason that describes either why a child would fall into this group or why this number is on the rise. The physical disadvantages of obesity have been well documented. While the psychological effects often seem to be bypassed in most studies. Childhood obesity has many effects of the psyche of a child and those effects can and frequently will carry on into adulthood. There are traditionally three schools of thought about what causes childhood obesity. The first is excessive eating. There are approximately three thousand five hundred calories in a pound so if a child takes in an extra fifty to one hundred calories every day it could lead to a yearly weight gain of five to ten pounds. This does not seem significant until accumulation is allowed for, an addition of fifty pounds to a child’s weight between the ages of thirteen and eighteen is substantial. We will write a custom essay sample on The Psychological Effects of Childhood Obesity or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page The second is a lack of exercise. In order to maintain a healthy weight a body must burn as many calories as it takes in.Society has become increasingly dependent on technology and thus has place higher value on computer skills then athletic or manual labor skills. Many school systems in the United States have cut funding for physical education programs in favor of promoting technology-based learning. For some children this is the only exercise they will get all day, for when they arrive home they almost immediately watch television or play video games. As a side effect, this also promotes lethargy in children making it more difficult for them to burn the necessary calories to maintain a healthy weight.The third, and sometimes most popular, reason people chose to explain childhood obesity tends to be the least likely reason for it, genetics. It is in fact very rare that a child is overweight due to illness or genetic disorder. Parentage does have a large influence on obesity, but it is less to do with genetics and more to do with health and fitness habits. If a child comes from a family that is overweight, they are more likely to be overweight as well because they will mimic their parent’s behavior in both diet and exercise.If the parent sets an example of daily exercise and a balanced diet the child will be far less likely to become overweight. However, there are some genetic disorders that will make it far more difficult for a child to burn calories such as hypothyroidism, a disorder that causes the body’s metabolis m to slow and store fats and calories much easier than an individual that is unaffected with the disorder. When a child is obese, they are much more likely to suffer from disorders such as hyperglycemia, or diabetes, heart disease, and an increased risk of certain types of cancer like colon cancer.Diabetes is a disorder is which the pancreas cannot produce a sufficient supply of insulin, the chemical responsible in the digestion of sugars. This disorder if not closely watched can cause blindness, liver failure and limb amputation due to increased likelihood of festering wounds on the feet and hands. There have been only a few studies that have delved deeply into the connection between level of happiness and weight in a child. Those studies have found a definite link between obesity and some mental and emotional disorders. The finding that obese individuals experience greater interpersonal sensitivity was not surprising. Body image disturbance, self-esteem concerns, lack of confidence in social situations, and the perpetual social stigma of obesity all contribute to a heightened sensitivi ty related to conflicted needs for social acceptance, inclusion, and self-validation. In addition, the depressive tendency to withdraw and isolate oneself from interpersonal environments may explain the high scores on the Psychoticism subscale.Obese individuals may be more prone to develop various psychotic symptoms and personal adjustment problems than individuals who are not obese. † (Mills,1995) Depression seems to be particularly prevalent in children with above average (body mass index value). Depression comes in many forms and effects every individual differently: some of the more common symptoms are irritability, lethargy, thoughts of self-harm, and aggression. Poor self-esteem is another symptom brought on by obesity.A lack of self-esteem may cause poor performance in areas a child would otherwise succeed. Though poor physical performance is associated with obese children due to physical restriction or health, one of the other primary reasons is a lack of confidence in the child’s ability to perform the activity. Poor body image is present in a large amount of children and adolescents who struggle with weight control. This can lead to unhealthy habits or practices that can farther debilitate an individual both psychologically and physically.Eating disorders such as anorexia, a disorder where in a person excessively exorcises and eats very little obsessing over what little they do eat, or bulimia a condition similar to anorexia where the individual will binge eat and then try to compensate by either excessively exorcising or forcing themselves to purge or vomit, can be a result of poor body image. There is also a disorder known as body dysmorphic body disorder that can result from continued poor body image. BDD is a condition where the person affected obsesses over a particular perceived flaw to an extreme that can cause psychological stress that can interrupt their lives.Some of the psychological problems that are associated with childhood obesity can be attributed to teasing or bullying fro m family and peers. There is a stigma in American society associated with obesity. Due to this stigma many overweight children are bullied by other children and at times adults. A study done to ascertain the extent of size discrimination amongst children found the following. â€Å"It is essential to address any existing psychiatric problems, including depression, poor self-esteem, negative self-image and withdrawal from peers. From an early age, society stigmatizes obese people as lazy, stupid, slow and self-indulgent.Studies have shown that children express negative attitudes toward their obese peers as early as kindergarten, and that they prefer a playmate who is bound to a wheelchair or disabled by a major physical handicap to one who is obese. There is a clear association between obesity and low self-esteem, especially in adolescents. During the office visit, it is imperative that physicians be sensitive to and accepting of these patients, focusing on positive aspects and ensuring that treatment plans will not further damage an already fragile sense of self-e steem. (Moran, 1999) This can contribute to some psychological disorders that affect the child social behavior. J. Pediatr preformed a clinical and nonclinical study and found these results: â€Å"[the results of the study] showed that discrimination may account for important social consequences of obesity in childhood, adolescence, and later adulthood† (Pediatr, 1997). This greatly supports the theory of peer importance on immediate and long term social competency. Humans are social animals so when a person suffers from social anxiety or social isolation it can negatively affect their ability to perform or function in their everyday lives.Social isolation may affect a child’s performance in school and thus limit their career options and earning potential later in life. Socialization has been shown to be an effective mental exorcise. Proper socialization can improve memory so the opposite can be deduces that social isolation can cause stunted memory and intellectual performance. Social anxiety can cause many other problems that can disrupt a person’s life. It can cause severe fear of any social situations including simply being in the presence of unfamiliar people.These individuals are hyper sensitive to criticism and have a crippling fear that others are judging them. This could impact school in children and later work life as adults. Social anxiety can manifest as panic attacks that cause the person’s blood pressure to rise, difficulty breathing and heart palpitations. In severe cases panic attacks can lead to heart attack or stroke. Obese children are more than three times as likely to become obese adults so issues that develop early should be addressed early in order to prevent their persistence into adulthood. After an obese child reaches six years of age, the probability that obesity will persist exceeds 50 percent, and 70 to 80 percent of obese adolescents will remain so as adults. The presence of obesity in at least one parent increases the risk of persistence in children at every age. †(Moran,1999) Low self-esteem and social anxiety can retard growth in areas like career and personal relationships. There are some studies that show that women in particular that are overweight suffer from more relationship problems and from poor career performance.In men, persistent obesity can affect educational achievement negatively (Viner Cole, 2005). Obesity has a drastic effect on a person’s health when it is sustained from childhood into adulthood. Chronic breathing disorders including sleep apnea and cardio obstructive pulmonary disease can cause increased risk of suffocation in obese individuals. Diabetes, when not cared for properly, can lead to kidney failure and the use of dialysis machines until a transplant is available, morbid obesity however will disqualify a patient for a transplant.The importance of prevention and recovery of childhood obesity has been made clear. There are several ways to help not only those already suffering from obesity. The first is a drastic change in both diet and exercise. Even a gradual reduction in calorie intake and the beginning of a regular exercise routine can help over time. Eating a balanced diet low in sugars, fats and calories can help maintain health and boost a person’s metabolism. A reduction of three thousand five hundred calories in any given amount of time will reduce weight by one pound.Equally increasing exercise can help burn calories, the average run burns around five hundred calories so if a person runs an hour a day and cuts five hundred calories a day that person can lose two pounds a week. It is also necessary to have both psychiatric and familial support while perusing recovery. A study was conducted to find out if family and clinical support had any effect on a child’s BMI and behavior â€Å"Families whose children succeeded in BMI reduction appeared more resourceful and tended to embrace ideas for making lifestyle changes.Unsuccessful families, however, found it harder to alter their lifestyle and often met barriers to change† (Owen, Sharp, Shield, Turner, 2009). Counseling may help the individual by giving them coping skills to deal with poor self-esteem and social anxiety. It can also help work through any emotional reasons the person has gained weight such as stress. Equally, it is important that the family support their child or adolescence weight loss goals, even if they themselves do not suffer from obesity. Support by encouragement by joining in with diet and exercise can be indispensable.Also family and councilors should never discourage a child by calling them out on a missed exercise session or slip up on their diet. Instead they should tell the child that there will be more opportunities and offer encouragement to do better tomorrow. Because of both the physical and psychological damage obesity can cause, adults should always be alert and aware of the symptoms in children. Obesity affects a child well into adulthood preventing fulfilling relationships and careers. Obesity can also become a fatal condition by increasing the risk of psychological morbidity and physical deterioration. Some of the trauma that obesity causes is from outside sources like bullying and thus the child will need counseling to learn coping techniques. Counseling can also effective in ascertaining the reason for obesity and learning socialization and esteem building exorcises. This condition can be prevented if steps to maintain a healthy diet and exorcise are taken. References Cornette, R. (2008). The emotional impact of obesity on children. Worldviews On Evidence-Based Nursing, 5(3), 136-141. Mills, J. K. (1995). A note on interpersonal sensitivity and psychotic symptomatology in obese adult outpatients with a history of childhood obesity.

Louis Pojman Theory

Louis Pojman Theory Louis Pojman suggests of a world where â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts†. Merit and desert are the two different fundamental ethical principles that are focused on in his statement. Merit is the reward or punishment due to a person while desert means deserving.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This theory therefore implies that people should be rewarded or punished based on not only their natural traits, but also the extent of goodness or badness of their actions. I would agree with Pojman that we deserve what we earn; however looking at the reality on the ground it is undeniable that this is not the case. Furthermore, due to the different laws and cultures in our world, it would be seemingly impossible to uphold such a rule (Waller 2008) According to Pojman, â€Å"the idea of rewarding the good and punishing the bad is the normal of evolving of culture†. To dictate what constitutes good or bad is quite subjective, but the question is how one should determine the degree of goodness or badness. The impact or repercussions of an individual’s deeds could be one measure that could be used in this instance. Pojman observes that a good deed done half-heartedly should be rewarded differently from an action done whole heartedly. An individual should therefore be compensated on the basis of his efforts or how well he has performed his tasks, but empirically there’s no way of determining his or her input into the task. A person could be good at something, based on a natural attribute, which would make him give the same value of output as another person who works harder in the same task since the second person doesn’t share the same attribute. Following the theory, the two individuals should be compensated based on their input, which would be unfair because they both produced the same output. A person could perform good deeds because they have an obligation to do so. A police officer has a duty to stop and prevent a crime, a fire fighter has a duty to put out fires but these classes of people should not be rewarded extraordinarily for performing their duties. The law does not allow a police officer to sue for a reward for finding a missing person even though there was a clause or offer from the missing person’s family, so in this case the theory fails. Another instance could be found in our work places.Advertising Looking for essay on philosophy? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Many CEOs work half day and enjoy the rest of the day playing a round of golf as their employees slave all day, yet the CEOs take the bigger pay simply because of their positions. Despite the fallbacks of this theory on the concept of good, it has a more positive impact in the case of evi l. Individuals are and should be punished based on the level of the bad they do. As is the case with our modern society, criminals serve different punishments depending on their crime. A murderer should be withdrawn from society, possibly for the rest of his or her life. A petty thief will serve shorter sentence than an individual on a robbery with violence charge, even though the two criminals may have stolen the same value of items. This theory therefore discourages evil, since individuals will avoid doing serious crimes for fear of retribution. Without this fear of getting punished, criminals and terrorists would roam free while world gets stuck in chaos. However, the theory upholds law and order, a major victory for justice (Waller, 2008). Due to our different backgrounds, cultures and religions, each and every individual is unique from each other. These differences influence our judgments thus explaining our differences in opinion regarding certain topics. Most western countrie s permit abortion, while other countries especially in the developing world consider it a crime. Differences in opinion mean that there’s no agreeable value of the deeds we perform. There’s no way of measuring a person’s goodness or badness. There’s also no stated best way of rewarding or punishing a person. Both rewards and punishments could take various forms, and their impact or influence could be dissimilar for two different people. A monetary reward could have little significance for an individual with a wealthy background while the same figure could greatly influence a person from a humble background. A person who has never been in jail before will think twice before repeating an offence while a seasoned criminal who did the same offence will have little in his way in case they get similar punishments. In this case, rewards and punishments may not have the desired outcomes if applied to different people. In conclusion if such a world existed, a plac e where which â€Å"the virtuous are rewarded and the vicious punished in proportion to their relative deserts,† people would strive to perform good deeds which would never go by unnoticed. Its common nature to love oneself, and if a reward is the only way to influence a good act, then so be it.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Louis Pojman Theory specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More An employee cannot be expected to work harder if he knows that there is nothing that will commend him for his efforts. Despite the problems discussed earlier, the theory would still have significant impact on behavior. Pojman was right to assume that we should anticipate rewards for doing good deeds and expect punishment for bad deeds. References Waller, B. N. (2008). Consider ethics: Theory, readings, and contemporary issues (2nd ed.) New York, NY: Pearson/Longman.

The deficiencies of using dashboards Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The deficiencies of using dashboards - Essay Example The answer given by the employees of both the organizations are more or less same for this question. Majority of the people who have participated in this survey believes that the dashboard are mostly used for the analytical percusses. The percentage is as high as 42% and 40% respectively for SAP and Oracle. Among Sap employees, 32% believes that the second most important use of dashboard in any organization is for Strategic decision making whereas among Oracle employees, 39% believes that Dashboard next best used in the operational purposes for any company. The pattern for this answer is same for both the companies and it is also at par with the response given by the people of IBM. 50% of SAP employees believe that dashboard is mostly used by the IT department whereas for Oracle, the percentage is as high as 58%. The second most popular section according to SAP is production and strategic department(31%) whereas according to Oracle the second most important section is the production and operation, where in their opinion the importance of dashboard is almost 25%. Unlike the people of IBM, both these companies believes that in marketing and sales department, the use of dashboard it not so much as in that department this can be helpful only to record the data and to understand the trend based on which decision are taken by the top authorities. While making any dashboard application it is important for the IT companies to remember what are the needs of the client. Like IBM, SAP and Oracle both believes that grouping of relevant data accurately is the key behind the successful implementation of dashboard in any organization. According to the people of SAP, this point is the main (51%) where as people of Oracle believes that like this point, developing an proper type of dashboard also plays an important role. In their opinion both data grouping and effective type have equal importance (35%