What's up with social exclusion?

What would people who love you say that you should change about your lifestyle?

I had a client turn the tables on me the other day and ask me that very question! 

I must admit…it’s pretty intimidating and intrusive, but hey, guess what? It works.  It got me thinking. 

I had many readers looking at my last blog on McDonalds Happy Meals and got some interesting comments. Pretty eye opening stuff…especially that Angus burger WOW!  Living a lifestyle of fast food and a fast paced life starts when we’re young.  And it’s so hard to break the habit once it has begun.  Trust me, I have to fight eating a Big Mac just like the next guy.  It’s that fat and salt and fat (oh yeah, I said that) that tastes so good. YUMMMM!

From 2004-2008 a study took place in the land down under (Australia).  It was a rather large study 3,300 children participated.  These were preschoolers and the follow up was 4 years later.  They took height and weight measurements at both stages. Their caregivers/parents were given extensive questionnaires to complete, and they also had detailed interviews. 

That’s pretty grueling; I applaud the parents for going through all that, for the sake of science.

Anyway, the point is they were trying to discern the quality of life the kids had in 2004 and in 2008 at the end of the study.  The results showed that of the children studied, 13% of girls and 16% of boys were classed as overweight, while 5% of both boys and girls were classed as obese.

The latter group of children were as much as 20% more likely to experience problems in relation to peer relationships by the time they reached the age of eight or nine, in comparison to children who were not obese or overweight. These problems were manifested as difficulties forming friendships, teasing and forms of social exclusion.

The data collected was adjusted in order to take into account other potential factors that could have an effect, such as family income, but such adjustments did not change the results.

I just wonder how much negative effects adults suffer from being over weight.  We’ve all heard of the fact that overweight people don’t get hired as often.  There have been studies to prove that too!  Unfortunately, we do carry this social stigma into the adult world.  I say, love me for who I am, right?

Now I am not advocating that you lose weight, get thinner, or get healthy so you’ll have more Facebook friends…. But if you lay in bed at night wondering about social acceptance…take a look at the first question in this blog today.

Soon I will share some thoughts on life and what I think it should mean to all of us and also…

What is going on with FACEBOOK…?  Can you handle all the changes?  They say change is good…what do you think?

Life Coach Doug

Reminding you, Wellness Matters for Life

God Bless