Another set of findings in the study centered around overweight children and adults. The study showed that many families have trouble staying active and living a healthy lifestyle, and stress can compound that. Emotional eating, sedentary behavior, and other less-healthy responses to stress are more common than families would like, and healthy eating and exercise are challenging habits to maintain, especially in the face of stress. This contributes to the negative cycle of overweight and stress. Here are some of the specific findings of the study: Overweight Adults and Children Feel More Stressed:
The Stress in America survey results show that children and adults alike who are obese or overweight are more likely to report that they feel stress, and overweight or obese children report that their parents were often or always stressed over the past month. Overweight Children Worry More:
Children who are overweight are more likely to report they worry a great deal or a lot compared to children of normal weight (31 percent vs. 14 percent). Overweight children are also significantly more likely than normal-weight children to report the way they look/their weight as something they worry about (36 percent vs. 11 percent). Overweight Children Often Have Stressed Parents:
Children who believe they are overweight are more likely to report that their parents are stressed out always or often than children who believe they are normal weight (39 percent vs. 30 percent). Children Manage Stress In Less Healthy Ways Have Other Problems:
Children who are overweight are more likely than children who are normal weight to report that in the past month they have experienced physical and emotional symptoms such as trouble falling asleep (48 percent vs. 33 percent), headaches (43 percent vs. 28 percent), eating too much or too little (48 percent vs. 16 percent) or feeling angry or getting into fights (22 percent vs. 13 percent), all symptoms commonly associated with stress. Overweight Children More Often Cope In Less Healthy Ways:
Children who are overweight are also more likely than children who are normal weight to report eating (27 percent vs. 14 percent) or taking a nap (26 percent vs. 15 percent) to make themselves feel better when they are really worried or stressed about something. These findings are troubling, but not entirely surprising. So many adults find themselves dealing with emotional eating. We also deal with self-sabotage and have difficult making healthy habits stick. It's not surprising that these patterns start earlier than we may realize. If you or your family members are dealing with these issues, the following resources can help.
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Source: www.stressinamerica.org
I love celebrating Thanksgiving, and I think it's a vastly underrated holiday! I understand that it's only an American holiday, so it doesn't have the momentum of worldwide celebration, and it's not traditionally a gift-giving holiday, so it doesn't have the push of consumerism behind it, like Christmas and, to a lesser extent, Hanukah. (I roll my eyes when I'm shopping for Halloween supplies in October and I invariably find them alongside a smattering of Christmas supplies from overzealous merchants.) Still, for everything we can gain from giving thanks, I'd really like to see more celebration of this wonderful holiday, in the form of increased acts of kindness and greater gratitude from people in their daily lives.