King’s College London reveal bullied children ‘twice as likely to be obese’

November 12, 2016

Researchers analyzed data on 2,000 adults who have been part of a study since they were children in the 1960s
They found those who were bullied at school were more likely to be obese
And they warn the situation could be worse now with cyber bullying and unhealthy food more readily available

Mia De Graaf For Dailymail.com

Published:
12:19 EST, 11 November 2016

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Updated:
15:42 EST, 11 November 2016

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Children who were bullied at school are twice as likely to be overweight than their popular peers, a new study claims.

Researchers at King’s College London analyzed interviews with 2,000 adults who have been part of a study since they were children in the 1960s.

They found those who reported feeling victimized were far more likely to be obese in their 40s and 50s.

And they warned modern forms of bullying online, coupled with more readily available unhealthy food, could make the situation worse.

Health dangers: Researchers at King’s College London found those who reported feeling victimized during middle and high school were far more likely to be obese in their 40s and 50s

‘Bullying is commonly associated with mental health problems, but there is little research examining the physical health of bullied children,’ Dr Andrea Danese from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King’s College London, said.

‘Our study shows that bullied children are more likely to be overweight as young adults, and that they become overweight independent of their genetic liability and after experiencing victimization.’

The researchers analysed data from the Environment Risk (E-Risk) Longitudinal Twin Study, which has followed more than 2,000 children in England and Wales in 1994-1995 from birth to age 18.

They assessed bullying victimization in primary school and early secondary school through interviews with mothers and children at repeated assessments at the ages of 7, 10 and 12.

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At the time of victimization, bullied children were not more likely to be overweight than non-bullied children, indicating that overweight children were not simply more likely to fall victim to bullying.

But when the children were aged 18, the researchers measured their body mass index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio, an indicator of abdominal fat.

They found that 28 percent of children in the study had been subjected to ‘transitory bullying’ – being bullied in either middle school or high school.

Thirteen percent suffered ‘chronic bullying’, which means they were bullied throughout their schooling career.

Children who were chronically bullied in school were 1.7 times more likely to be overweight as young adults than their peers that were not bullied at all.

Bullied children also had a higher body-mass index and waist-hip ratio at the age of 18.

To the researchers’ surprise, these figures bore no relation to other environmental risk factors, such as socioeconomic status, food poverty, child abuse, low IQ, and poor mental health.

Most striking, the report found that children who were chronically bullied became overweight independent of their genetic risk of being overweight.

Jessie Baldwin, from the IoPPN at King’s, said: ‘Although we cannot definitively say that bullying victimisation causes individuals to become overweight, ruling out alternative explanations, such as genetic liability, strengthens the likelihood that this is the case.

‘If the association is causal, preventing bullying could help to reduce the prevalence of overweight in the population.

‘As well as preventing bullying, our findings emphasize the importance of supporting bullied children to prevent them from becoming overweight, which could include interventions aimed at promoting exercise and healthy eating.

‘Our data suggest that such interventions should start early in life.’