"Being fat" is seen as the most common reason why children are bullied, a new study reveals.
Researchers who surveyed more than 2,800 adults in the United States, Canada, Iceland and Australia said at least 70 percent of respondents believed that weight was a common reason for bullying. A similar number regarded weight-related bullying as a serious or very serious problem.
Weight-related bullying was considered to be more common than bullying for reasons such as race/ethnicity, sexual orientation or religion.
Given high rates of childhood obesity in these and many other countries, both school-level and policy-level remedies may be needed to address weight-based bullying on a broad level to improve quality of life for youth with obesity.
Schools should raise awareness about, and take more action to reduce, weight-related bullying, according to 75 percent to 87 percent of the adults. About three-quarters of the respondents said governments should strengthen existing anti-bullying laws to include measures to combat weight-related bullying.
At least 60 percent of the adults in the different countries said schools, teachers, parents, health care providers and governments have an important role in preventing weight-related bullying, according to the study published recently in the journal Pediatric Obesity.
This particular study shows that there is substantial public support for these policy measures.
The findings echo recent research from the U.S. showing that parents favor strengthening school-based policies and state laws to address weight-based bullying. The time may be ripe to implement school-level policy changes to ensure that vulnerable youth are protected.
Reference:
University of Connecticut, news release, July 2015
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