Researchers at King's College London have recently found that children who were found to be a victim of bullying are twice as likely to be overweight than their popular peers. In the study, experts have analyzed interviews with 2,000 adults who were made as part of the study since they were in their childhood years in the 1960s.
Bullying And Its Traumatic Effects
The study suggests that for those children who are bullied in school are likely to be overweight in their adult age than the non-bullied ones. In one of their statements reported by Daily Mail, senior author Dr. Andrea Danese of King's College London has claimed that bullying is commonly associated with problems related to one's mental health, but the team has noted that there is little research examining the physical health of bullied children.
Furthermore, Danese said that the study suggests that bullied children are perceived to be more likely to be overweight as young adults, and that they become overweight regardless of their genetic background but rather observed after the said experience of being a victim.
Bullied Children Have Higher BMI Than Those Who Did Not Experience Bullying
According to the Indian Express, those children who were constantly being bullied at school were also found to have higher Body Mass Index (BMI) and waist-hip ratio in as early as the age of 18. On the other hand, experts have highly emphasized the fact that the study did not look at certain environmental factors such as socioeconomic status, food insecurity in the home, child maltreatment, low IQ, and poor mental health.
Moreover, Jessie Baldwin, who's also from the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience (IoPPN) at King's College London, said that the study conducted doesn't necessarily mean that being a victim of bullying will directly cause obesity to a person. Rather, the study is a matter of ruling out alternative explanations which is found to strengthen this condition. The study also aims to educate and spread awareness to people that he prevention of bullying could help to reduce the prevalence of overweight in the population.
