Twelve year old boy goes from overweight to anorexic

A twelve year-old boy went from being overweight to being anorexic, after being bullied about his size at school.

Taylor Kerkham, from Stockport, decided to go on a weight-loss mission after fellow pupils mocked him about his size. Although he was not obese, he admits that he was ‘chubby’. But instead of easing himself into a diet as you might have expected, Taylor went all out, and launched into a crash diet that involved eating only 50 calories each day.

Taylor's weight plummeted and, within a year, he had lost 5 stone. Eventually, he collapsed at school and was admitted to hospital suffering from anorexia-related conditions.

During Taylor’s period of extreme weight loss, his parents struggled to make him eat. At one point, in desperation, they tried to force feed him a biscuit. Instead of helping him to overcome his obsession with losing weight, however, this apparently only made his fixation stronger.

Luckily Taylor has now recovered to a normal size, and is said to be doing well.

Obesity-related bullying

Taylor’s case goes to show the negative effect that obesity-related bullying can have on children. Just this month a study has given scientific credence to what was really already known: that obese school pupils are more likely to face bullying. In this study, school pupils were asked who they would invite to a party. Obese pupils were found to receive the least invites overall.

Another thing that Taylor’s case shows is that, for people of any age that, if they are really desperate to lose weight, then a severe diet is not the answer. By simply eating a stable, healthy diet, and exercising regularly, weight loss can be achieved. People often look for extreme answers or quick fixes when they have an obesity problem, but in reality, this is not a healthy route to go down.