Overweight And Bullying
bullying and name callin overweight and bullying behavior of overweight children does overweight have anything to do with being bullied overweight and buyingThe prevalence of overweight and obesity in children is rising. Childhood obesity is associated with many negative social and psychological ramifications such as peer aggression. However, the relationship between overweight and obesity status with different forms of bullying behaviors remains unclear. The purpose of this article is to examine these relationships. Methods. We examined associations between bullying behaviors (physical, verbal, relational, and sexual harassment) with overweight and obesity status in a representative sample of 5749 boys and girls (11–16 years old). The results were based on the Canadian records from the 2001/2002 World Health Organization Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey .
Body mass index (BMI) and bullying behaviors were determined from self-reports. Results. With the exception of 15- to 16-year-old boys, relationships were observed between BMI category and peer victimization, such that overweight and obese youth were at greater relative odds of being victims of aggression than normal-weight youth. Strong and significant associations were seen for relational (eg, withdrawing friendship or spreading rumors or lies) and overt (eg, name-calling or teasing or hitting, kicking, or pushing) victimization but not for sexual harassment. Independent of gender, there were no associations between BMI category and bully-perpetrating in 11- to 14-year-olds.
However, there were relationships between BMI category and bully-perpetrating in 15- to 16-year-old boys and girls such that the overweight and obese 15- to 16-year-olds were more likely to perpetrate bullying than their normal-weight classmates. Associations were seen for relational (boys only) and overt (both genders) forms of bully-perpetrating but not for sexual harassment. Conclusions.
Overweight and obese school-aged children are more likely to be the victims and perpetrators of bullying behaviors than their normal-weight peers. The prevalence of 7- to 13-year-old youth who were either overweight or obese was 12% in 1981 and increased to 30% in 1996.
4 Indeed, children are the fastest-growing segment of the overweight and obese population. 5 Childhood obesity leads to a variety of clinical health problems. Excess body weight in children is associated with a plethora of type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease risk factors, 6 , 7 overweight and obese youth are more likely to become obese adults, 8 and obese adolescents have an increased risk of morbidity and mortality in adulthood. 9 , 10 Of equal importance are the negative social and psychological ramifications of childhood obesity including being liked to a lesser extent by peers, 11 – 14 being rejected by peers, 13 and being the victims of various forms of peer aggression such as bullying. 15 , 16 Bullying is a highly prevalent ( 30%) form of aggression in youth that involves the repeated use of power and aggression. 17 , 18 Through repeated aggressive interactions, the perpetrator of bullying acquires and consolidates power over the student who is being victimized. 19 Adolescence is characterized by changes in appearance and body size, and because these physical changes are a salient feature in this age group, they may be a focus of bullying behaviors.
A reciprocal interaction may unfold in which peers bully their classmate about a topic that is likely to elicit a response and the victimized adolescent is more likely to react to aggression that is aimed at a vulnerable issue. Thus, bullying behaviors may be related to body size and obesity in adolescence. The social and psychological ramifications induced by the bullying-victimization process may hinder the social development of overweight and obese youth, because adolescents are extremely reliant on peers for social support, identity, and self-esteem. 20 Indeed, the prevalence of social problems among obese adolescents is quite high, 21 and these social problems are predictive of both short-term and long-term psychological outcomes.
22 – 24 For example, overweight adolescents are less likely to marry as adults compared with average-weight adolescents, and obese girls complete less schooling and have lower household income as adults than nonobese girls. 22 Many studies have examined the relationship between overweight and obesity with aggression and victimization in youth, and, in general, they have shown positive associations between adiposity level and victimization. 11 – 16
However, these studies are limited by several factors. First, they included preadolescents or adolescents but not both. In addition, most of this work has emphasized the forms of aggression that are salient to boys (eg, teasing or physical bullying), whereas the forms of aggression that are salient to girls (eg, relational) have largely been ignored. We have also included 2 other forms of aggression, overt racial aggression and sexual harassment, that have not been considered to date and are important constructs to consider. Furthermore, previous studies have typically relied on observations in relatively small, localized populations of obese children, and the applicability of these findings to the general population is unknown.
Finally, few studies have controlled for the degree of overweight. Because the social impact increases the further the individual deviates from normal, 25 it is possible that obese youth may be the victims of bullying behaviors, whereas the same may not hold true for moderately overweight youth. It is also important to note that previous studies have only examined the victimization component of bullying behaviors. Thus, it is unknown as to whether overweight and obese youth are also more likely to perpetrate bullying than their normal-weight peers.
The purpose of this study was to examine relationships between bullying behaviors with overweight and obesity status in a large sample of 11- to 16-year-old youth. Our findings indicate that overweight and obese boys and girls are more likely to be the victims and perpetrators of verbal, physical, and relational bullying than their normal-weight peers. The relationship between victimization and adiposity level was observed in all ages studied (11- to 16-year olds), but the relationship between bully-perpetrating and adiposity level was observed only in older (15- to 16-year-olds) youth.Accordingly, being overweight may be a salient target for bullying behaviors. Indeed, children characterize their overweight and obese classmates as individuals who tease, get teased, fight, and are selfish and mean, 29 , 30 which is entirely consistent with stereotypes associated with an overweight body build. Because children are heavily reliant on physical cues in their social interactions, 31 , 32 they are likely influenced by stereotypes associated with physical cues.
Therefore, children may internalize some of the negative beliefs of the obesity stereotype and subsequently behave in a manner that elicits these beliefs.
There may be a reciprocal interaction whereby the youth's physical appearance (weight) may elicit a bullying interaction from peers, and in turn these negative interactions may contribute to continued issues with body weight.. 33 Other studies report that overweight children are unhappy with their weight and that they experience more depressive symptoms than their normal-weight peers. 34 , 35 These symptoms are also experienced by children who are victimized by their peers. 19 Overweight during adolescence has an effect on high-school performance 36 and college acceptance. 37 Overweight adolescents are less likely to marry as adults, compared with average-weight adolescents, and obese adolescents have lower household income as adults than nonobese adolescents. 22 These observations highlight both the short- and long-term impact that bullying behaviors may have on social and psychological functioning in overweight and obese youth.
Bullying behaviors can take place in many forms including name-calling, teasing, threats, physical harm, rejection, rumors, and sexual harassment. Historically, research in bullying behaviors has been limited to overt aggression, which includes behaviors that harm others through physical damage or verbal name-calling and teasing. Although the gender gap has been closing in recent decades, 38 overt aggression is far more common in boys than girls. 38 , 39 Therefore, to properly address the issue of bullying behaviors in girls, it is important to consider other forms of aggression. Relational forms have been identified in which harm to others occurs through manipulation or control of their relationships (eg, threatening to withdraw friendship or rumor-spreading). 39 , 40 Girls exhibit higher levels of relational aggression than do boys. 39 , 40
Although overt bullying is more common in boys, and relational bullying is more common in girls, in the present study we saw an increase in both overt and relational peer victimization in overweight and obese youth, independent of gender. Alternatively, there may be a hierarchy of aggression such that overweight and obese youth may make fun of others because of race, color, or religion as a means of retaliating for being made fun of because of their excess body weight. Despite the increase in ethnically oriented verbal bullying, the likelihood of sexual harassment bullying behaviors (eg, sexual jokes, comments, or gestures) were not different in normal-weight, overweight, and obese children. overweight and bulling overweight and bulling bullying among boys