The nature of many weight-related health conditions involves the element of time. This means that sometimes it can take a long time for the more serious symptoms to start showing up. However, the stage is certainly set and processes are put into motion during the early years when a child is obese. Still, a child's youth can keep them from suffering from the sorts of medical problems that plague obese adults. The condition still filters into problems discovered later in life though. Liver disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, certain kinds of cancer, diabetes and stroke are all serious possibilities.

Hypertension and high blood pressure are almost a given in obese people no matter how old they are. Some severe medical conditions don't appear in obese children but others still do. For kids who are severely overweight or obese, high blood pressure is a very common problem. In addition to the physical stress placed on the body from the excess weight, there are significant psychological stress factors involved, too. Physical and verbal abuse from classmates and peers is the norm for children who are obese. It build and builds and becomes a very stressful situation for the child which then leads to high blood pressure.

"Kids are cruel" is one of the oldest and most common expressions that people hear. Most of us have experienced this in some form when we were kids. Kids who are obese are typically targets of intense bullying and extraordinary levels of verbal humiliation. It is any wonder how these children can get through all those years of school with their sanity intact. We all know the possible consequences of such chronic abuse. The constant verbal assaults will have a tremendous impact in areas such as self esteem, confidence and the list goes on.

During the teen years a person's individualization and personality development get faster. In addition to those processes, a teenager's body image is at a particularly dicey stage. Developing normally in these areas is particularly hard for teens who are obese. This causes a developmental disadvantage when the teenager leaves high school. They will have a harder time competing and reaching normal levels of success. The serious issue of obesity in young children and teens is one that will actually effect everybody. It is important to look at this also from the standpoint of cost to society. Obese kids typically become obese grown ups and that comes with all sorts of medical and personal costs. So this is honestly a societal problem even though that is not how most people think of it.