Kids who are teased
about their weight, regardless of
how much they actually weigh, experience
significant emotional distress. At
the same time, kids who actually are
overweight tend to have smaller social
networks and be socially marginalized.
These conclusions come from studies
in the August issue of the Archives
of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine,
which is a special theme issue on
obesity.
Teasing could range from "Hey
fatso! Get out of my way!" to
the more gentle, "Maybe you should
have a salad instead of a burger."
Teens who were taunted reported low
levels of satisfaction with their
body, low self-esteem, high depressive
symptoms and thoughts about and attempts
at suicide. Kids who got teased by
both family members and peers had
a higher rate of emotional distress
than those who were teased by one
group or the other.
Teasing had a detrimental effect,
regardless of the child's actual weight.
"To find it so clear across boys
and girls, across racial groups, across
weight categories really says we've
tapped into something important. Being
teased about your weight really hurts,"
adds Eisenberg, a research associate
at the University of Minnesota School
of Medicine and School of Public Health.
Although overweight adolescents listed
a similar number of friends as did
teens of normal weight, the overweight
adolescents were less likely to be
listed as a friend by their peers.
A normal-weight teen received an average
of 4.79 friendship nominations, versus
3.39 for an overweight teen. In addition,
overweight teens were 70 percent more
likely to receive no friendship nominations
than their normal-weight peers.
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