You knew that bullying was bad for your child’s health. All those cuts and bruises from being pushed around are just no good. The emotional and social devastation has a terrible effect on kids, sometimes making bully victims into bullies themselves.
But here’s something new: Being bullied can make a child fat, or at least, fatter than they would normally be.
Overweight children have long been targets of bullies. A report in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology detailed a study done on the effects of bullying overweight kids. One effect is that children avoid situations where they will be bullied for being overweight. That means that they do not join in physical activity, exercise, sports, and minimize their participation in gym class. As the rate of bullying goes up, the rate of physical activity goes down.
This also has implications for depression – children who are bullied have a high incidence of depression. Exercise is one natural way to release endorphins which combat depression.
School wide prevention programs, teacher training, and parent involvement are crucial to preventing bullying. Pediatricians are also being encouraged to find out more about their overweight patients’ social lives and how their social interactions affect their ability to participate in healthy exercise and activities. Children who cannot be active due to bullying are less likely to get the exercise they need to shed pounds.