To most adults, stress is a grown-up affliction. Pressures at work, family demands, financial strains, and relationship issues can all cause emotional tensions that manifest themselves in psychological and physical problems. But being a kid is no walk in the park. Taking tests, a full extracurricular schedule, nightly homework, arguments with friends, and parental expectations can be a lot for a child to handle. When other concerns, such as a weight problem, are causing additional friction in a child's life, it's even more important that she has the emotional tools to help manage stress appropriately.

The Stress-Fat Connection

Stress does more than make you feel bad — it can also cause or worsen weight problems. The hypothalamus, the part of the brain that regulates appetite, is also part of a pathway known as the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (or HPA) axis. When a stressful situation occurs, the hypothalamus sends signals to the pituitary gland, which secretes a hormone known as ACTH. The ACTH in turn triggers the secretion of the stress hormone cortisol by the adrenal glands.

Cortisol is called the stress hormone because it signals the liver to produce glucose, which generates the energy that would theoretically allow someone in a stressful situation to escape the source of danger. This survival mechanism works great when stress is temporary and short-lived. But when stress becomes chronic, the HPA axis goes into overdrive and produces too much cortisol. As a result, blood glucose and insulin levels become continuously high, resulting in increased fat accumulation around the abdomen. Other physical impairments, such as a lowered immune response, are also linked to chronic stress.

Is Your Child Stressed?

Many of the signs of childhood stress, such as an increase in time spent alone, irritability, and difficulty sleeping, are the same as those of childhood depression. In fact, the two may coexist. Physical manifestations of stress in children can include headaches, stomachaches, bed-wetting, and other sleep disturbances such as nightmares.

The younger your child, the more difficulty he may have articulating his feelings, which is why children under stress often respond by either withdrawing or acting out. Young children under stress may develop comfort habits like thumb-sucking, or they may become very clingy and upset at the prospect of separation from parents. Older children who are stressed often become emotionally volatile, displaying inappropriate anger or sadness. Stress may make kids of any age fidgety or unable to sit still and relax, as they dwell on the problems creating the tension.

Relieving the Pressure

Many times children experience stress because of what they perceive to be your lofty expectations of them. Sometimes those perceptions are accurate — parents do set unrealistic goals that can intimidate their children. It's an easy trap to fall into with weight and weight loss because it becomes a numbers game. Parents look at the weight charts and statistical graphs, pick the average for their child, and start the clock ticking to get them there. They fail to take each child's unique circumstances, physical build, activity level, and medical history into account.

Here are some ways to take the pressure off your child when it comes to weight management:

Stow the scale. Don't subject your child to weekly weigh-ins. Let his sense of physical and mental well-being be the gauge of how well his fitness plan is working. If you must get out the scale, don't make it more than once a month.

Stop micromanaging. Let your child make his own choices, as long as they don't compromise his safety. That means not ordering for him at restaurants and not debriefing him on food intake every time he returns home.

Don't overbook. Extracurricular activities are great, but your child needs time for some unstructured rest and relaxation, too.

Emphasize effort. Recognize his hard work, even if the end result isn't always what he, or you, had in mind.

Give them tools. Practicing new skills like relaxation exercises, guided imagery, and yoga can help both children and adults relieve stress.

Lend an ear. Ask your child how he's feeling when he seems upset, and really listen to his response. Never minimize his emotions, no matter how trivial the problem may seem to you.

One of the most important things you can do to lower your child's stress level and boost her sense of self-worth is to assure your child that you love her unconditionally, regardless of her size, grades, or athletic achievements.