Obese kids more likely to be bullied, study confirms

In a recent New York study, it has been revealed that obese kids that are in grades 3 through 6 are more prone to be bullied. The study went on to say that slimmer kids are more apt to bully obese kids regardless of their race and background and academic achievement.

The study involved 821 boys in the United States between the ages of 8 and 11. Roughly 20 percent of the kids were considered obese and slightly less were classified as overweight. Of those kids it was determined that half of them faced constant bullying. It went on to say that obese kids had a 60 percent more chance of being picked on and bullied than their smaller peers.

The findings were published on Pediatrics Online. Dr. Julie Lemueng was the head of the study and said that ‘regardless of class, there was still that same chance of being bullied…There is no simple solution to the problem. Society places so much emphasis on thinness and it is this image that is so highly recognized to be able to fit in’.

The study was conducted at The University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Dr. Lemueng also went on to say that the best way that schools have targeted this problem in schools is through intervention programs which address the problem first at hand. Still, she went on to say that the best way to combat obesity is through healthy eating and to keep encouraging parents to promote intervention type programs in schools.