A new study finds that is doesn't matter what a child’s race, gender or social status – the simple fact that a child is overweight will make them more likely to be bullied.
The research, published in the journal Pediatrics, finds that being overweight in grades 3 through 6 increased the risk of children being bullied by 63 per cent, regardless of any other factor.
The study involved 821 U.S. boys and girls who were eight to 11 years old. In third grade, 17 per cent of the children were obese and 15 per cent were overweight.
By sixth grade, teachers reported that 34 per cent of the study children had been bullied, and mothers reported that 45 per cent of the children had been bullied, while 25 percent of the children themselves said they had been bullied.
The investigators found that the odds of being bullied were 63 per cent higher for an obese child, compared to a healthy-weight peer, regardless of other factors.
"The higher odds of being the victim of bullying among obese children were equally strong across children who were male and female, white and non-white, and poor and non-poor and across schools of all types of demographic profiles and 10 U.S. study sites," they write in the study.
The findings surprised even the researchers, who were led by Dr. Julie C. Lumeng from University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her team theorized that overweight kids who had good social skills or who did well in school would be less likely to be bullied.
"None of these factors, however, protected the obese child from being bullied more often. In effect, being obese, by itself, seems to increase the likelihood of being a victim of bullying," they write.
Lumeng also admitted being surprised by the findings, noting that with so many kids these days struggling with their weight, it's a surprise to find that being obese can still make a child a target for ridicule.
"There is no simple solution to the problem," Lumeng told Reuters Health. "I think it reflects the general prejudice against obese people."
Her team says that interventions that address bullying in schools are badly needed, as are actions to reduce obesity in children in general.
They say future research should also address the negative perceptions of obesity and overweight by children and of society.
"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 investigators write.
Results of the study will be published in the June issue of Pediatrics, but were released online May 3.
