Time is an integral element to the nature of most weight-related health conditions. This is a fancy way of saying that the bad symptoms don't start showing up right away--they take a while to become apparent. Of course, particularly in the case of childhood obesity, early years of the condition can set things in motion for problems later on. Even so, children will tend to have fewer medical problems due to obesity because they are young. But, the very condition itself is referred to as being a risk factor for later complications and disease conditions. Stroke, high blood pressure, cancer, diabetes, heart disease and liver disease are some of the worse problems you can face.
The obese child is on a devastating path toward serious health issues. One problem, for example, is fatty liver disease (which is just about the most common liver disease). A long time ago people typically associated liver problems with liver sclerosis and alcoholism. Today, though, we understand that fatty liver disease is most often caused by chronic obesity. What will usually make the primary liver issues worse is that the metabolism of an obese person is terribly dysfunctional. The liver helps by getting rid of anything that is not good for the body. This puts an intense demand and weight upon the rest of the body's systems in kids who are obese. Obesity also causes specific gender related problems especially in young girls who are going through puberty (or have gotten past it). Women and girls who are obese are, for example, prone to problems with their menstrual cycles. This is a problem because the body has lots of interference in its normal hormone production. The larger effect is to cause all kinds of problems with the girl's menstrual cycle. Obesity contributes to these problems for women. What is also commonly seen as a result of this is for the obese female to essentially become sterile if the interference is significant. But also consider that if there is hormone disruption, then what is the impact on the rest of the female bodily processes that require hormones? The human body requires its hormone production to be normal in order to keep the body's metabolism functioning properly.
You already know about the severe social stigma that is attached to kids and teens who suffer from obesity. Going to school every day must be something on par with being tortured for these kids. The effects of chronic teasing, comments and even bullying will certainly cause life-long psychological scars or even severe damage. It is also important to note that each person is going to respond to this differently. The ripple effects from this can be large and serious and it is important to get obese teens and kids and adults into counseling so that they can properly deal with the effects of these kinds of things.
If you are a child or young adult, it is incredibly important that you find a competent and qualified adult to talk to about your condition. It is important to be well informed as to the causes of this condition. The good news is that you can absolutely do something about this and it is never ever too late to begin working your way back to optimum health.