STUDENT: Edward James Cavalier

ADVISOR: Dr. Renae McNair

ABSTRACT:

Obesity is a growing problem throughout the world, especially in the United States. Not only have adults been affected by obesity, but also the adolescence of the United States. Obesity can amass a large amount of problems throughout one’s life such as physical health, mental health, and social health. The main objective for this conceptual research paper is to raise awareness and to examine the correlation of obesity and the decline of mental and social health in adolescence. Upon review of the literature discussing this problem findings show that adolescence who are obese based on the Body Mass Index are more likely to develop physical health problems and also social and mental health problems such as depression, anxiety, and social barriers than the population who is considered a healthy weight by the Body Mass Index. The sample size that will be used is n = 1,000 subjects who fall under the category of obese. The age group that will be tested are 13-18 years of age, who will be administered a questionnaire to show implications of such effects of being obese and their results will be recorded on a 1-10 likert scale. The expected results would be adolescence who are considered obese by the BMI are more prone to gain social and mental health impasses such as depression and anxiety than those who are considered a healthy weight by the BMI. I hypothesize that individuals who are considered obese will score higher on the questionare than individuals who are not considered obese according to the BMI. The implications of this study is to raise awareness on obesity and to help our youth become healthy individuals.
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