Bullying Keeps Overweight Kids From Exercise

Dark Knight

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SUNDAY, May 14 (HealthDay News) -- Overweight kids who could benefit from sports and regular exercise are often discouraged from doing so by taunts and bullying, a U.S. study finds.

"We found that as rates of peer victimization among overweight kids went up, rates of physical activity went down," lead author Eric Storch, assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Florida, Gainesville, said in a prepared statement.

"When you speak to overweight kids, one of the things you often hear is just this. Kids are targeting them. Kids are picking on them," Storch said. "You're going to end up avoiding these types of situations. The problem clinically is, if kids are avoiding PE (physical education) class or playing sports because of fears of negative peer relationships, their health status is affected."

Rest of this very interesting article:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20060514/hl_hsn/bullyingkeepsoverweightkidsfromexercise



 
This thread is 4 years old. It seems things have just gotten worse.
 
I was overweight in grade school...

I was always one of the last people picked to be on a team....it was the norm and it did affect me with self-esteem and my outlook on exercising. I remember those hurtful days....
 
I was overweight in elementary school and developed a bit of a complex when it came to exercising 'in public'. I dreaded gym class all the way through high school and even as an adult I have reservations about going to the gym. Today, I am sure at my age that I wouldn't face criticism for my weight or clothing but the 'complex' is still with me.

I feel badly for the children today. Childhood obesity is on the rise and being bullied in gym class or on a baseball team certainly isn't going to help. JMO.
 
I weighed 115 lbs. at 5ft 3" tall in high school. I was constantly told how fat I was and belittled, even by girls that quite obviously weighed more than myself. Despite being athletic I ended up refusing to go out for any kind of sports activities as a result.. I can't imagine how others overweight or not felt about this kind of teasing.
 
OMG! i so hated gym class it aint funny. I would have my mom write excuses and everything. we had to run a few laps and i was slower than some others. so the other kids had to wait for me to finish. It was humiliating and the gym coaches were the worst! My last year of HS I lost tons of weight, around 50lbs or so. I still have my HS ID picture to remind me. I did it all on my own during the summer when I discovered how much I loved weight lifting.
 
I realize this is a dated thread, but I haven't been here for a while and am trying to catch up. I don't know why, but bullying and its victims really enrage me. I can't say that I was bullied technically, but I do remember being made to feel "less than". I was smart and thin, but rather ugly, not popular and not athletic at all. To top it off, I went to a rather well-to-do high school, but we were kinda poor. Not allowed to wear makeup or dress in the latest fashions. I was made fun of, but yep, as you guys have said, gym class was the worst. I was shy as well, so the whole locker room scenario just appalled me. Wearing those horrible gym outfits, undressing and showering in public...I wanted to crawl in a corner and die. For many years, I could throw up at will and used that to my advantage. How many times I would say "I can't go to gym class, I'm sick" and then bluuuuuuhhhhhh......! I even hated recess. I would have rather sat in the library with a book. I've never forgotten those days, how it made me look at myself, how it made me feel, such an outcast....
 

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