Obesity Personality Profile - Essay Example

Obesity Personality Profile Obesity is a common problem that affects many individuals globally, and an obese is a person that is overweight and weighs more than their ideal weight. Arguably, obese people differ from other people particularly, those individuals who are not overweight. For instance, they usually have lower self-esteem and impulse control, and this is mostly caused by discriminations and underestimations that they experience when interacting with other people. More so, in most cases, they have passive dependent and passive aggressive personality traits. Furthermore, due to their condition, most obese people are antisocial as they are afraid to face ridicules and discrimination from their peers and so, they show low cooperativeness. In addition, obese people are prone to psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety. More so, they are subjected to other problems such as prejudice, discrimination and underestimation, bullying, and teasing among others. Unfortunately, they always develop the feeling of rejection and guilt due to their condition. This essay provides a personality profile of an obese person whom I have met and has been my friend for a quite some time now, and through keen observation, I have noted some of his behaviors and personality. Cornel is 14 years old but overweight, through interview, I realized that he is not comfortable with his weight, and this has made him to develop friendship with other people selectively. Physically, Cornel is huge, and he weak especially when they are walking. He is very lazy and always tired and walking for a shorter distance makes him pant, have breathing difficulty and other complications. In most cases, he is not happy and does not join his peers when playing or doing other activities. In addition, Cornel is dull and moody in most cases and so, he distances himself from others. More so, he has an appetite and eats a lot but again, engages in minimal physical activities to control his weight. Arguably, obese people are vulnerable especially when it comes to developing pro-longed relationships because they usually have low self-esteem. Because of all the ridicule, discriminations, underestimations, and bullying among others, Cornel wishes to work on his weight so as to change his condition. Furthermore, he is not outgoing and feels unworthy and depressed most of the time especially in the presence of unfriendly persons. Every time he associates with other people, he feels uncomfortable and so, getting to interact with them closely is almost impossible. Notably, Cornel is exposed to many psychological problems, for instance, during the interview, he admitted that he always experience cases of bullying, teasing, discrimination as well as underestimation from their peers. More so, he has very low self-esteem and so, most of the time, he avoids interacting with other individuals freely especially those who do not understand his situation and relate or treat him equally. Mostly, just like other obese people, Cornel is antisocial and do shun away from developing a lasting relationship. Cornel feels that most people perceive him differently, as useless and of no help because of his condition. He is insecure when around other people because he thinks that people will look down upon him. Accordingly, he suffers from some psychological disorders such as depression and anxiety, for instance, in most cases, Cornel feels depressed and unhappy. This always results from all the challenges he faces and other problems such as health complications that are associated with obesity. Considering Cornel’s condition, I explored the possible factors that cause of obesity and realized that, there are many causes of obesity. Notably, the most common cause of obesity is excessive consumption of calories, and this explains which childhood obesity is at an alarming rate in most developing countries. Through observation, I realized that Cornel consumes many calories and prefers fast food to packed lunch, and generally, I noted that he has unhealthy diet and poor eating habit. Researches show that most obese children do eat fast food with excessive calories and within a short period. More so, parents contribute to increasing cases of obese children because they are too busy to prepare healthy food and ensure that they children eat healthily and engage in regular physical activities to keep their body fit. Therefore, I concluded that unhealthy diet and excessive consumption of calories contributed significantly to Cornel’s condition. In addition, through observation and interview, I realized that Cornel does not engage in regular physical activity to enable him burn excess fats in his body despite the fact that, he continues to consume excess calories. Cornel spends much of his time playing video games, watching television and other indoor activities but rarely engage in cycling and other outdoor and exercise-related activities. Most obese children are not active physically, and they prefer engaging in games that do not require a lot of energy. Physical inactivity is undoubtedly associated with obesity because most obese people do not participate in various physical activities on a regular basis. Most children do not engage in physical activities on a regular basis even after the introduction of physical education in many schools (Moreno, Iris and Wolfgang, 12). Therefore, a combination of excessive consumption of calories and physical inactivity contribute greatly to the rising cases of obese people. For instance, those who consume excess calories and have an unhealthy diet but rarely engage in physical activities are more likely to be obese just like the case of Cornel. Accordingly, obese people do have breathing difficulties even if they engage in the slightest exercise, and I realized that with Cornel when he was trying to exercise a bit. Various studies reveal that obesity exposes individuals to many health problems such as heart problems, diabetes and high cholesterol levels and many others (Moreno, Iris and Wolfgang, 1). Sadly, these diseases are today common even among children, but for a long time, they have been associated with adults only. Cornel posits that, “I do suffer from heart problems and high cholesterol level which I believe results from my condition”. More so, he admits that he also suffers from high blood pressure and other medical conditions such as bone and joint problems. This confirms that, obesity impacts negatively on individuals’ health and that obese people are prone to many health complications disregard of a person’s age. In addition, Cornel seems to mature faster as compared those who are not obese. Moreover, an individual’s personality causes obesity, for instance, those who are impulsive and extroverted tend to be fatter than those who are conscientious and organized. Notably, obese people tend to be suspicious and antagonistic towards others, and I confirmed this with Cornel during observation. Dealing with obesity is not an easy task because many people do not interact with them and underestimate them, and this is what makes them be suspicious. More so, because of his condition, Cornel tends to seek stimulation in the presence or company of others who are willing to cope up with him but developing mutual relationships is extremely difficult, and so most obese people have impaired quality of life. Concisely, obesity affects many individuals and is a common problem facing people globally, and literally, an obese person is overweight and weighs more than his ideal weight. Cornel is my friend and he is overweight, and so he finds it hard to cope up with individuals and shun away from establishing long lasting relationships. Notably, Cornel is weak and tired in most cases, feels depressed and unworthy. Moreover, he likes taking excessive calories because he prefers fast food to packed lunch and this contributes significantly to his unhealthy weight. He consumes excess fats, but he is physically inactive. Just like other obese persons, Cornel is exposed to various health problems such as heart problems, diabetes, and high blood pressure among others. Actually, during the interview, he reveals that he suffers from some of this health complications. Moreover, he feels insecure and suspicious wherever they are and when he is with his peers. Overall, obese people including Cornel are vulnerable and are prone to many psychological problems such as depression, anxiety, bullying, discrimination, underestimation among others. Work Cited Moreno, Aznar, Iris Pigeot, and Wolfgang Ahrens. Epidemiology of Obesity in Children and Adolescents: Prevalence and Etiology. New York: Springer, 2011. Print. Read More