Self –esteem, discrimination and obesity

Today we are going to explore how obesity leads to discrimination and affects children and adolescents’ self-esteem. Self-esteem is about how much you feel you are worth and how much you feel other people value you. It is especially important in the stage of puberty, when adolescents builds up their personalities. While there are cases where overweight adolescents are popular among their peers and have no issue in relation to their self-esteem, these cases are rare and it is more common that adolescents with obesity struggle with holding up their self-esteem. Research shows that obese teenagers are more likely to have low self-esteem than his peers who are not overweight. Low self-esteem, also known as lack of self-confidence, is a barrier for obese children or teenagers to have a normal social life. It is more difficult for them to make new friends. For instance, they could be the last one chosen when teams are selected in activities held in PE classes because their physique suggests that they would not be able to perform well in sports. In short, obese adolescents will be likely to suffer discrimination and low self-esteem more frequently than normal weight children.

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