Bullying and Victimization in Overweight and Obese Outpatient Children and Adolescents: An Italian Multicentric Study

Abstract

ObjectiveBeing overweight or obese is one of the most common reasons that children and adolescents are teased at school. We carried out a study in order to investigate: i) the relation between weight status and school bullying and ii) the relation between weight status categories and types of victimization and bullying in an outpatient sample of Italian children and adolescents with different degrees of overweight from minimal overweight up to severe obesity.Participants/MethodsNine-hundred-forty-seven outpatient children and adolescents (age range 6.0–14.0 years) were recruited in 14 hospitals distributed over the country of Italy. The participants were classified as normal-weight (N = 129), overweight (N = 126), moderately obese (N = 568), and severely obese (N = 124). The nature and extent of verbal, physical and relational bullying and victimization were assessed with an adapted version of the revised Olweus bully-victim questionnaire. Each participant was coded as bully, victim, bully-victim, or not involved.ResultsNormal-weight and overweight participants were less involved in bullying than obese participants; severely obese males were more involved in the double role of bully and victim. Severely obese children and adolescents suffered not only from verbal victimization but also from physical victimization and exclusion from group activities. Weight status categories were not directly related to bullying behaviour; however severely obese males perpetrated more bullying behaviour compared to severely obese females.ConclusionsObesity and bullying among children and adolescents are of ongoing concern worldwide and may be closely related. Common strategies of intervention are needed to cope with these two social health challenges.

Association among obesity, overweight and autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analysis

“…Overweight is considered an age-adjusted and gender-specific body mass index between the 85th and 95th percentiles. Obesity or overweight harms psychosocial functions and is associated with significant societal and familial economic burdens 2,8 . Obese or overweight children are more susceptible to isolation and bullying than normal weight children 8 .…”

“…Obesity or overweight harms psychosocial functions and is associated with significant societal and familial economic burdens 2,8 . Obese or overweight children are more susceptible to isolation and bullying than normal weight children 8 . Thus, obesity and overweight are becoming severe social issues and have a significant influence on quality of life and independent functioning.…”

Childhood obesity and school absenteeism: a systematic review and meta‐analysis

“…For example, children with obesity could disproportionately suffer from illnesses that result in absenteeism (sick leave from school) and/or presenteeism (compromised class participation resulted from attendance while sick) . Children with obesity are teased and bullied more than their normal weight counterparts and are more likely to suffer from stigmatization, depression and lower self‐esteem . These could substantially weaken their motivation for school attendance and lead to chronic absenteeism.…”

It’s Time to Ask the Right Questions: Highlighting Critical Areas to Explore Cyberbullying in Adolescents

“…Common risk factors include youth with physical or intellectual disabilities, autism spectrum disorder, overweight and obesity, racial differences, sexual orientation and medical illnesses [21][22][23][24][25][26][27].…”