The conclusion belongs to a new scientific study

May 3, 2010 09:02 GMT  ·  By
Bullies tend to prefer picking on obese children, regardless of other factors, a recent study shows
   Bullies tend to prefer picking on obese children, regardless of other factors, a recent study shows

In a new study, investigators have determined that bullies tend to prefer picking on overweight and obese children, rather than more fit ones. The team behind the research determined that this tendency was not affected by other factors, including social skills, academic achievements, socioeconomic status, gender or race. Official classifications term both obesity and bullying pervasive public health problems, for the mitigation of which a host of measures have been put into place. However, until now, little tangible results have been obtained in either of these directions, PhysOrg reports.

A research covering three years (2003-2006) shows that a whooping 17 percent of children in the United States are obese. The work was aimed at kids aged between 6 and 11, which makes the findings even more worrying. The results are unfortunately in tune with the number of overweight or obese adults in the country. The NIH estimates that 60 percent of the population is either overweight or obese. The new findings are published in a paper entitled “Weight status as a predictor of being bullied in third through sixth grades,” which will appear in the upcoming June issue of the esteemed scientific journal Pediatrics. The work is already available online.

Specialists at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital were behind the investigation. They were led by Julie C. Lumeng, who is an assistant professor at the university's Department of Pediatrics and Communicable Diseases and also the lead author of the paper. She says that one of the reasons bullying is so tightly-watched is because it promotes feelings of depression, anxiety and loneliness in victims. In some cases, these symptoms can get so severe that children commit suicide to escape. Bullying is worse today than in the past, because the Internet allows bullies to follow their victims throughout the day.

“Physicians who care for obese children should consider the role that being bullied is playing in the child's well-being. 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,” the team leader says. The 821 children that participated in this study were recruited since birth from 10 study sites in the Unites States. They were part of the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development.