Psychological Directions in Understanding and Providing Therapeutic Support in Child Obesity

The paper analyses implications of overweight and obesity over the psychological picture of children at the age of preadolescence. Child obesity and overweight represent a major health issue in today's society with complex implications on medical, social and psychological perspectives. The study included 52 children aged 9-14, with average age 11.92, SD = 1.497, Body Mass Index ≥ 95 percentiles, corresponding to obesity. It is pointed out the presence of boy image dissatisfaction, relational-adaptive difficulties, depressive vulnerability, and emotional eating behavior providing arguments in favor of the necessity of therapeutic intervention aimed to the psychological needs of obese children.