My Thougths - "Psychosocial Impact of Childhood Obesity", Glass Half Full Podcast

 

I find that podcasts are a great, entertaining, and easy way to continue or enhance knowledge on a particular subject.  I just listened to a podcast titled “Psychosocial Impact of Childhood Obesity”, from the Glass Half Full OT podcast. The special guest for this episode was Brittany Saviers, who talked on her doctoral coursework, which turned into independent study research of the psychosocial impact of childhood obesity. A startling fact she pointed out was that 17% of children are considered to be a part of the obesity category, according to the Center for Disease Control. That means, about 17% of children are facing psychosocial consequences of being overweight. Most of these consequences are a result of bullying from other kids or even adults. Bullying can take on many forms such as means words, social exclusion by a group, or even just stigmas surrounding people who are considered overweight by society. There are 6 psychosocial impacts of childhood obesity that Brittany pointed out such as, low self-esteem, body dissatisfaction, suicidal thoughts, negative societal attitude/perception, weight based teasing, and social exclusion. I was alarmed at how many major psychosocial impacts, childhood obesity had on these children. 

 

I learned about numerous implications that can be used to help decrease these psychosocial impacts on these children.  Some of my favorite implications Brittany talked about were recognizing the need for advocacy with this demographic, looking at the bigger picture by understanding the family routine, and not overlooking the client’s well-being due to personal bias. I enjoyed learning about this specific population of children because, I feel like they can sometimes be disregarded when it comes to mental health and social interaction. I liked how this research did not solely focus on diet and exercise. It helped re-frame the approach to treating clients who are considered overweight by integrating the family and community into treatment. By using a more holistic approach, it can benefit the client in various aspects of the psychosocial impacts of childhood obesity. Overall, this podcast had great information and many of the implications that were suggested can be used with a multitude of clients all across the board, so even if you aren’t interested in this specific population, this information can be beneficial for several clients!

 

Reference:

Saviers, Britany, et al. “Psychosocial Impact of Childhood Obesity.” Glass Half Full OT, Jessica Kersey, Natalie Barnes, 5 Nov. 2017, glasshalffullot.com/podcast/psychosocial-impact-of-childhood-obesity/.