Perceived Weight and Bullying Victimization in Boys and Girls

Background: Studies have examined the association between objective weight status and bullying behaviors among children, but research suggests that perceived weight may pose separate risks on increasing an adolescent’s vulnerability to bullying victimization. In this study, we investigated perceived and objective weight and self-reported bullying victimization among school-aged children.

Methods: Data were analyzed for 6716 students from the 8^th and 11^th grade School Physical Activity and Nutrition (SPAN) project, a probability-based survey of public school students in Texas to determine the prevalence of child obesity and related risk factors. Questionnaires collected data on demographic factors, self-reported bullying victimization, self-reported weight perceptions, and age-adjusted body mass index calculated based on objectively measured height and weight. We examined if the prevalence of bullying victimization among children differed by perceived and objective weight status, and how these associations varied according to gender.

Results: Overall, 10.8% [CI: 7.9%-14.4%] of students reported being bullied in the last 6 months. Nearly 70% of normal weight [CI: 63.3%-72.5%] and overweight [CI: 63.1%-77.1%] adolescents perceived themselves as weighing the right amount, as well as almost 50% of obese adolescents [CI: 41.0%-55.9%]. Perceiving one’s own weight as being too little or too much compared to peers was significantly associated with increased bullying victimization (p<0.05) in unadjusted and adjusted models, whereas objective weight was not associated with victimization. When interactions between perceived weight and gender were examined, perceived weight was significantly associated with bullying victimization (p<0.05) among boys only, with perceiving one’s own weight as being too little compared to peers increasing the odds of being victimized.

Conclusions: Perceived weight may play a greater role in predicting bullying victimization among adolescents than objective weight. This association is especially relevant among boys, where perceiving oneself as being smaller than peers increases the odds of victimization. Interventions to prevent bullying should consider adolescents’ self-perceptions of weight status to effectively identify those who are most at risk for victimization.