Being Obese Can Attract Bullies, New Study Says
Obese children are more likely to be bullied regardless of gender, race, socioeconomic status, social skills or academic achievement, according to a new study led by a University of Michigan researcher and co-authored by Danielle Appugliese, research manager of BUSPH’s Data Coordinating Center.
The study, published online in the journal Pediatrics, concludes that being obese, by itself, increases the likelihood of being a victim of bullying for children in grades three through six. Researchers studied 821 children participating in the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. The children were recruited at birth in 10 study sites around the country.
The researchers evaluated the relationship between the child’s weight status and the odds of being bullied as reported by the child, mother and teacher. The study accounted for grade level in school, gender, race, family income-to-needs ratio, racial and socioeconomic composition of the school, and child social skills and academic achievement as reported by mothers and teachers.
Researchers found that obese children had higher odds of being bullied no matter their gender, race, family socioeconomic status, school demographic profile, social skills or academic achievement.
“Physicians who care for obese children should consider the role that being bullied is playing in the child’s well-being,” said lead author Julie C. Lumeng, M.D., assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases at the University of Michigan’s C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital. “Because perceptions of children are connected to broader societal perceptions about body type, it is important to fashion messages aimed at reducing the premium placed on thinness and the negative stereotypes that are associated with being obese or overweight.”
Childhood obesity and bullying are pervasive public health problems. Obesity among children in the U.S. has risen to epidemic proportions, with 17 percent of 6 to 11-year olds estimated to be obese between 2003 and 2006. In addition, parents of obese children rate bullying as their top health concern, and past studies have shown that obese children who are bullied experience more depression and anxiety.
Besides Lumeng and Appugliese, additional authors include: Patrick Forrest of the University of Michigan; Niko Kaciroti of the University of Michigan; Robert Corwyn of the University of Arkansas in Little Rock; and Robert Bradley of the Arizona State University.
Submitted by Lisa Chedekel