Battling bullying: Do obese children face the same fight?

Abstract

The prevalence of childhood obesity in Canada continues to rise. While the relationship between chronic conditions and related physiological co-morbidities has been examined extensively, less attention has been focused on the psychological and social implications of increased adiposity. This paper addresses the impact of social stigmatization and discrimination, specifically bullying, on the psychological well-being of obese children, and highlights potential solutions from a population health perspective. Additional attention is required to study the impact of stigmatizing experiences on the emotional well-being of obese children and adverse psychosocial outcomes that may be exacerbated by weight bias.