During most of his childhood, George was a bit on the pudgy side, but with the onset of puberty, he became categorically fat. Dieting did not seem to help, although George freely admitted that he was not very interested in dieting because eating was one of the things he truly enjoyed. He did not enjoy sports or other forms of exercise that left him out of breath, nor did he truly enjoy telling

Question

"fat" jokes about himself and making people laugh, although his classmates at least seemed to like him for that. (a) From the text discussion of obesity, what factors might be involved in George's weight problem? (b) What self-fulfilling prophecies might be operating in George's case? What advice could we give him and his parents on helping him lose weight?

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

(a) Overeating could be either a cause or an effect, and it might or might not be a major factor in George's weight problem. Assuming it is, however, George may have learned overeating from his parents, he may have been overfed during infancy or early adolescence and thus have developed an excess of fat cells, or he could simply be overcompensating for other things that are missing in his life. He could also have inherited a predisposition to be overweight. (b) One likely self-fulfilling prophecy is that he can't help being fat and therefore doesn't regulate his diet, all of which keeps him fat. Another is that he avoids exercise because he is fat, which helps keep him fat. Yet another is that classmates and teachers discourage him from participation in sports because he is fat, which helps keep him fat. The list is potentially endless. It is also possible that the reinforcement he gets from telling "fat" jokes, etc. helps keep him fat, too. General advice to George is to break out of the pattern, which would include convincing him that being too fat is harmful and that he needs to burn off calories through exercise, and convincing his parents to help him alter his eating and exercise habits, with emphasis on eliminating snacks between meals.