Obese children in grades 3 to 6 are more likely to be bullied than normal weight children, according to a recent study in Pediatrics. This statistic may not surprise too many people. However, even obese kids with characteristics that normally discourage bullying, such as good social skills or good academics, still get bullied just as much. Here at Camp Shane weight loss camp, bullying is absolutely not tolerated. Our campers work towards weight loss in a fun, productive way through exercise and nutrition and make many friends in the process.
Bullying
In general, children who are obese are 65% more likely to be bullied than normal weight children of the same age. These results persisted even when other factors were taken into account, such as being from a low-income family or doing badly in school. Prior to this study, researchers did not know how strongly a child’s weight would be related to bullying. Now they have no doubt that obesity is a strong risk factor for bullying among children (in grades 3 to 6).
Struggles of Obese Children
Overweight and obese children tend to have added struggles that their normal-weight peers do not. In addition to be being bullied, overweight children tend to indicate that they feel lonely, see themselves as troublemakers, or say that they are sad, afraid, or “wimpy.”
Mimicking Behaviors
One reason why kids may make fun of overweight classmates could be that they are picking up this behavior from the adults around them. Children are prone to taking on adult behaviors if they see adults acting in certain ways. As such, adults should be aware of how their “fat” jokes or other demeaning behaviors (or even those seen on TV) towards overweight or obese people could be transferring to the children around them. In fact, interaction with parents in and of itself has been seen to reduce bullying.
How Adults Can Help
Previous studies have shown that obese children are also more likely to participate in bullying due to their low self-esteem. Obesity is a vicious cycle of low self-esteem, eating, gaining weight, and then more low self-esteem. If parents (or other adult figures) become more interactive with their children they may be able to help them either deal with being bullied or stop bullying others.
Written by Camp Shane Nutritionist, Jessica Bouchard
Source: http://news.health.com/2010/05/03/obese-kids-bullying/
Tags: bullying, exercise, nutrition, obese children, obese kids, overweight children, weight loss
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