Vol. 14, No. 2 • May 2010

What's Eating You?

by Lauren Zingraff, SaySo Program Coordinator

Childhood obesity is at an all time high and expected to increase. The number of overweight children has tripled in the last 30 years (USDHHS, 2008). Childhood obesity causes many emotional problems as children are ostracized, teased, and bullied. This may lead to lower self-esteem and mental health issues such as depression in the obese child (APHA, 2008).

In graduate school, my research project examined the relationship between depressed children and food. I hoped to learn how depression influences children’s eating habits. Depressed children may be more likely to become obese if they are self-medicating with food. Food becomes the antidepressant medication: experts agree that certain foods boost serotonin levels in the brain, leading to a better mood.

In my study, I surveyed children in therapeutic foster care and their social workers. The results positively identified a relationship between depressed children and their eating habits. For some depressed children, this manifests itself in overeating behaviors, which can lead to obesity.

Of course, not every depressed child is obese. However, overeating is not the only behavior depressed children display regarding food. Other behaviors would include under-eating, erratic eating, and unhealthy eating. Nicole Lyght, co-chair on the SaySo Board of Directors, shares her thoughts and feelings regarding food in foster care in the article below.

Food in Foster Care by Nicole Lyght, age 22 When I was coming up in foster care, I ate what was given to me. On holidays, family get-togethers, Sunday breakfasts, and at church functions, I got a variety of different foods. But those special occasions only came around every once and a while. At home, the family and I ate mostly oodles of noodles and hotdogs. I feel that it is because of this I am not too fond of fruits and vegetables. I eat very few vegetables because I never grew accustomed to the different tastes and textures of most of them. I just never have an urge to eat a banana, an apple, or any other fruit for that matter. Healthy eating is a big part of life that I have never really participated in. I’ve known and been taught about healthy eating ever since elementary school. And although I know about healthy eating, I don’t eat healthy. Not because I choose not to, but because I am just used to eating the foods that I’ve acquired a taste for. Unhealthy eating is a big part of a lot of people’s lives. For example, some people overeat when they’re stressed or upset. I’ve never overeaten unless I felt like I wouldn’t be getting my money’s worth or sometimes I find myself saying, “I know I’m full, but I have to finish this.” I don’t personally know youth in foster care who overeat in an effort to make themselves feel better, but I know that eating disorders and unhealthy eating are out there. I know they can affect young people in very destructive ways. I believe that your weight affects the way people view you, speak to you, and think of you. I know a lot of people say, “I don’t care what others think” or “What others think doesn’t matter.” Actually, it does. It also affects the way you feel about yourself as a person. When I was younger I used to get picked on about my skin color. For years I felt I was inferior to lighter skinned women. I felt I was ugly. Why? Because I allowed the things others said to affect the way I felt about myself. Their words and actions changed my whole perspective of my inner and outer beauty. That’s how someone who may be overweight or underweight or who has an eating disorder would feel. If you hear and see how much others negatively judge you, eventually that becomes your mindset. Being a foster child with no job and making no money, you have no other choice but to eat what you are given. Well, you could starve, but I doubt anyone would want to do that. It is very important for foster parents to provide healthy fruits and vegetables for their foster children to eat. A foster parent becomes a foster parent because the state feels that parent is a suitable candidate to raise and provide for foster youth. If the parent cannot provide what the child needs to better their physical health, that is when a social worker or someone from that supporting agency should step in. Also, I do feel that social workers or someone from the agency should monitor what the foster parents are feeding children, because although the child lives in the foster parents’ home, they are still in the state’s custody. It is not only the parent’s responsibility to better the child, but also the responsibility of the social worker. Social workers should also take the time to go over the school lunch menu and to provide information on healthy eating so that a child has a better chance to make healthy decisions.

Copyright � 2010 Jordan Institute for Families