| |
Obese children, even those in kindergarten, are found to be more depressed, anxious and lonely when compared to their slimmer counterparts.
"We found that both boys and girls who were overweight from kindergarten through third grade displayed more depression, anxiety and loneliness than their slimmer peers," said Sara Gable, associate professor of human development and family studies, Missouri University (MU).
"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," Gable said.
MU researchers used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to examine the social as well as behavioural development of 8,000 school-age children from kindergarten entry through third grade.
The researchers then evaluated the factors which have not been studied previously: age at becoming overweight and length of time being overweight. "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 Gable.
"Teachers reported that these girls had less positive social relations and displayed less self-control and more acting out than never-overweight girls," Gable said.
