Most obese adolescents liable to inferiority complex: survey

A recent survey among teenagers found nearly 60 percent of overweight children exercised less than two hours a week and about 56 percent felt inferior, Guangzhou Daily reported.

The survey, organized by an institute at Sun Yat-sen University and a charity fund in Guangdong Province, looked into the eating and lifestyle habits of 300 overweight students aged from 10 to 22 in 10 major cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

It found the teenagers shared common problems like eating too much food, taking less exercise, being physically weak and tending to feel inferior. More than 38 percent ate too much food or snacks and 33.7 percent preferred meat.

Over 46 percent said their physical and mental condition was affected by their obesity. More than one in five dislike exercise.

Zhou Runan, director of the survey and a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, said being fat made some teenagers feel less confident as the survey showed 52 percent were not satisfied with themselves. About 3 percent said they felt depressed for being overweight.

Guo Haoyan, deputy director of the Policy Research and Health Communication Center at the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, also said teenagers need an integrated approach to control their weight through exercise and a balanced diet.

Editor: Eric Wang