Obesity and Bullying; A Vicious Cycle
Julie Lumeng, M.D., a professor of Pediatrics at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor recently published a study in the journal Pediatrics finding obese children are more likely to be bullied than those that aren’t obese.
The study followed 800 children who were born in 1991 and who lived in 10 different cities across the US. The children, teachers and parents were surveyed by researchers during third, fifth and sixth grades. An interesting detail of the survey is the children’s social skills were addressed in addition to whether they were being bullied. Weight status was measured simply by obtaining body mass index.
Lumeng and colleagues found social skills were not a factor and that children who were obese were more likely to be bullied regardless of how well they performed socially. This finding was contrary to Lumeng’s impression when beginning the study, “No matter how good your social skills, if you were overweight or obese you were more likely to be bullied.”
According to Dr Sylvia Rimm who is a clinical professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, it is possible that the cycle of low self esteem and obesity increases the likelihood that a child will become a victim of bullying. Rimm states, “Kids who considered themselves very overweight not only were bullied, but…indicated more loneliness, saw themselves as troublemakers and saw themselves as sad, fearful and wimpy.”
The link between low self esteem and obesity may therefore be the causative factor; kids who overeat for comfort become obese and lose confidence thus the cycle continues.
Matthew N. Davies M.D., the director of the C. S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health believes that children who bully their obese peers may be inadvertently influenced by the media and adults in their lives. “Imagine how many signals kids get about weight just by hearing conversations by adults or seeing advertisements on TV.”
Obesity and bullying have been described as major public health issues affecting children today. The link between the two issues illustrates the need for increased awareness and intervention to help break the cycle.
Written by Ernesto MartinezRelated posts:
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