If you’re an obese teenage girl, you’re half as likely to go to college as a “normal” teenage girl.

Researchers at the University of Texas-Austin confirmed this hypothesis in a recent study of 11,000 young adults, proving what we’ve all known for years: obesity isn’t just detrimental to one’s physical health.

But why are girls getting the brunt end of this stick?

Even girls of average weight have image problems; obese girls are dangerously subject to a negative self – image. And a negative self – image lessens the desire to be social, to go to college, and to generally succeed in anything either than being overweight, creating a vicious cycle spurred by the obesity epidemic.

Researchers say that obese girls can improve their self – worth by joining clubs or creating close relationships with parents and teachers. God. If I hear “join a club!” as the solution to a pervasive social issue one more time… I just don’t know.

The fact of the matter is, once an epidemic keeps people from attending college, one of the best and most accepting receptacles for everyone from weirdos to clowns to jocks that one will see in a lifetime, the solution cannot be to “join a club.” Read More »