Overweight kids more anxious and lonely

Overweight children, especially girls, experience more loneliness and anxiety from as early as kindergarten, a US study has shown.

“We found that both boys and girls who were overweight from kindergarten through third grade displayed more depression, anxiety and loneliness than kids who were never overweight, and those negative feelings worsened over time,” said Prof Sara Gable of University of Missouri, who conducted the research.

“Overweight is widely considered a stigmatising condition and overweight individuals are typically blamed for their situation. The experience of being stigmatised often leads to negative feelings, even in children,” she said.

The researchers used the study to examine the social and behavioural development of 8,000 school-age children from kindergarten (age four to five) to third grade (age eight to nine).

“Girls who were consistently overweight, from kindergarten through third grade, and girls who were approaching being overweight were viewed less favourably than girls who were never overweight,” said Prof Gable.

“Teachers reported that these girls had less positive social relations and displayed less self-control and more acting out than never-overweight girls,” she added.

According to the researchers, the results indicate that larger than average children, especially girls, experience social and behavioral challenges before they reach the 95th percentile of the Body Mass Index and are classified as being overweight.

The results of the study were published in Applied Developmental Science.

[Posted: Fri 03/07/2009]