Fat Shaming Linked to Greater Health Risks

Pennsylvania: Body shaming is a pervasive form of prejudice, found in cyber bullying, critiques of celebrities' appearances, at work and school, and in public places for everyday Americans. People who are battling obesity face being stereotyped as lazy, incompetent, unattractive, lacking willpower, and to blame for their excess weight. The pain of these messages may take a toll on health and increase risk of cardiovascular and metabolic disease, according to a new study published in Obesity, the journal of The Obesity Society, led by a research team from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

Victims of childhood bullying more likely to be overweight as young adults

London: Children who are bullied in primary and secondary school are nearly twice as likely to be overweight at the age of 18 than non-bullied children, according to a new study by researchers from King’s College London. Previous research by the team at King’s has shown that children who experienced bullying while growing up in the 1960s were more likely to be obese at the age of 45, yet it was unclear whether these long-term effects were present earlier in life.

What should parents do if their child is bullied at school?

TriplePblog: Having your child bullied at school is one of the greatest fears of parents – and research shows this fear is well founded. School bullying has been described as the single most important threat to the mental health of children and adolescents. Well-controlled studies show that being bullied in primary school increases the risk of serious mental health problems into adolescence and ongoing depression leading well into adulthood.

Understanding the link between bullying and suicide

TheConversation: Bullying, most of us probably know, can be a tremendously painful experience for a young person. Stories about teens like Phoebe Prince or Amanda Todd who killed themselves after experiencing bullying have driven this point home. All 50 states have some kind of anti-bullying law, and schools are increasingly being called upon to implement bullying prevention programs. Bullying and suicide are both significant public health concerns for children and adolescents, and we need to understand the link between the two. That means making sure that research evidence is integrated into the discussion so that we don’t jump to the wrong conclusions about bullying and suicide.

Bullying worse than abuse for mental health

Scimex: Children who have been bullied by peers are more likely to have worse long-term mental health outcomes than children maltreated by adults, according to a long-running study of more than 5,000 children from the UK and US. Bullied children are around five times more likely to experience anxiety and are nearly twice as likely to report more depression and self-harm at age 18 than children who are maltreated.