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Fat Kids Get Teased, Not Poor Kids
Filed under: In The News, Research Reveals: Big Kids, Social & Emotional Growth: Tweens, Research Reveals: Tweens
Weight makes kids a target for teasing. Credit: Getty Images
Kids have discerning taste when it comes to choosing whom they will tease. While the pool of targets remains obvious -- those whose looks and behavior differ from their own -- teasers will hone in on peers whose deficits appear to be in their victim's control, according to a new study out of Kansas State University
Researchers discovered these results after they presented third- and sixth-graders with hypothetical profiles of kids who were poor, nonathletic, obese, aggressive, shy, asthmatic and had attention-deficit-hyperactivity disorder. Participants then rated statements about the hypothetical kids' abilities to control and change their conditions. Researchers also asked their young participants if they would help that kind of person.
The results
Collectively, sixth-grade boys have the lowest tolerance. Girls generally had more compassion for their less-than-cool peers. However, kids felt empathy for the hypothetical kids if they knew someone possessing the same trait.
Among the hypothetical profiles, aggressive kids fared the worst, making them the most likely to be teased. Girls were perceived as having more power to change themselves than boys because girls seek out and follow the advice of adults. Overall, kids were not interested in helping those they perceive to be different.
The good news
Interestingly, participants demonstrated a remarkable understanding of the gross domestic product and international financial markets -- some referenced the fall of Enron as the beginning of the end -- and their effect on the accumulation of wealth for the unluckiest of Americans. Thus, poor kids were less likely to be teased.
Has your child been teased? If so, for what? Or, is your child a teaser?
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
8-04-2009 @ 7:42PM
Inadequate Wife said...At Grade 8 graduation last year, my very morbidly obese husband sat in the front row, right in the center, and took photos. He has never attended a school event due to his size and his mobility issues. We have hosted birthday, holiday, and pool parties for our daughter and her friends at our own home.
The backstage buzz was "OMG! Who's the really fat guy in the front row? He's huge. OMG!" Our daughter, bless her, finally had enough. She's well liked and respected by her peers, and won the big award of the night for Academic Excellence. She turned around and said "Listen guys, just stop it. He's MY Dad and I love him for who he is".
Being teased about who your parents are is just as bad as being teased about yourself. She was pretty embarrassed and quite upset about it when she got home. But when it counted (in front of her peers), she held it together and stood up for herself.
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8-05-2009 @ 8:01AM
Heidi said...Congratulations on raising your daughter to have a heart. Children can be very cruel and not only to each other. You should be very proud of her.
8-06-2009 @ 12:19AM
L. said...That girl has her head on straight. That should have made her Dad
PROUD to know she is proud of who he is. Some are not as lucky to even have a Dad, much less one that cares. Can't live on what if's, but That is a REAL signal to that DAD, his daughter really cares....so if he wants to see her graduate from High School and live a great life and be able to share it with her...He need to take care of his health....and trim down. It can be done. Come on DAD you can do it!!!! It's never to late......to start NOW.....
8-05-2009 @ 11:43AM
Jill said...Well in my opinion, and these are opinions here. If parents took more of an active role in their childrens lives by setting good examples of exercise and eating habits maybe your children wouldn't be teased for being fat. Chips, sodas, and fast food are the diets of most of the overweight children, add to that the lack of exercise and outdoor playing. What do people actually expect to happen. Once again in my opinion, obesity in children is a form of physical child abuse. Fact being, obesity causes severe and life threatening diseases and illnesses. A child is dependent on the parents to provide nutritional support to them. Therefore, what you put in is what you get out. Take responsibility. It's your (parent) fault that the teasing happens.
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8-05-2009 @ 4:53PM
Princess said..."It's your (parent) fault that the teasing happens."
Wow. Sounds like you might have a bully for a child (IF you have children). What about the parents of the bully? Do they hold no fault? Why aren't they teaching their children that it is NOT ok to tease anyone for any reason! There is no middle ground or exceptions.
8-05-2009 @ 11:45PM
Brandy said...Some kids are going to be obese no matter what. If you have a 300 lb 6th grader then there is something wrong, yes but some kids are just naturally heavier.
My mother fed my family good, wholesome food in appropriate portions. We did not watch TV. We played all day, mostly outside riding bikes, running, chasing each other and climbing trees and I was still an overweight kid. I have spent my whole life working on weight issues and my mother was there the whole way.
I refuse to blame my parents for something that is genetic when they did everything that society says is "right." The kids who teased me an the parents that saw it and said nothing or encouraged it, those people I blame. Telling a kid that he/she is fat or making them feel like they are less of a person because of it fuels issues if a child has food issues which makes it worse and can lead to an obese child having eating disorders.
It turns out I actually have problems possessing food that makes it nearly impossible for me to lose weight no matter what I eat or how much I work out. Doctors just didn't figure it out until I was just older. Too bad I can't go back and tell myself it will work out and not to worry about it. It might have saved me a lot of emotional stress as a child.
8-06-2009 @ 1:32AM
paymyownway said...My niece Ashley, who is now 25 years old, was a healthy newborn. Her mother was a lazy slob, who like to smoke and shut the kid up. Propping bottles started very early, and feeding her oatmeal to "make" her sleep through the night.
By 3 or 4 months old, Beth proppped the somewhat pudgy Ashley into a high chair bracing her on either side with blankets. We were horrified, but what do you say? The kid was soon started on JUICE and FRUIT SNACKS. This went on to about 14 Months old. The kid was OBESE by 10 months, didn't walk until about 14-15 months old. I mean OBESE!
Now more problems. The kids teeth were rotting as fast as they were coming in. IMAGINE! Fat and with rotten teeth!
By the time this kid was like 3 she wobbled when she walked. My sister in law just said, "Oh, it's baby fat." Course, there is very little to say, because her husband, my husband's brother just didn't see it.
Ashely has had tens of thousands of dollars of dental work done on her. When she was in grade school, root canals and crowns were the standard dental care.
This kid always ordered adult meals from about 6 years on. Mommy and daddy were so proud of their little pork hound. Really, it was disgusting and embarassing.
She was raised to be a pig, literally by lazy parents who started her out in a high chair. See, her mommy didn't want to comfort her because she was too busy smoking outside, or watching tv. The eating started in the high chair. Fruit and fruit juices. Her mommy use to say how HEALTHY it was! Justifying feeding the kid to keep her quiet.
Now she is 25. Extremely overweight. About 250 and 5'4". She is unhappy, lies, has a false extreme self esteem "Look at me!" aren't I great! Her body, especially legs and stomach is torn with stretch marks. Her body is ruined, trashed.
Worst of all, she cannot stop eating. Her comfort is food.
SO BEFORE YOU LAZY MOMS FEED YOUR KIDS TO KEEP THEM QUIET, THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE DOING. THE KID LEARNS THAT FOOD IS COMFORT. THIS GIRL/WOMAN IS NOW HORRIBLY DISFIGURED, HEALTH PROBLEMS UP THE WAZOO, AND JUST 25 YEARS OLD. NO GUY REALLY WANTS ANYTHING TO DO WITH HER. GO FIGURE...
THANKS MOM AND DAD!
8-05-2009 @ 7:16PM
Karen said...Really, only fat kids get teased? Huh. I wonder why the default insult in my elementary school was "you're poor." Perhaps I dreamed all that, because I was a very skinny kid and therefore not a target. Hm.
On the real, this study is just pointless. Asking kids who may or may not be bullies which hypothetical types of children they would feel worse about picking on? That tells you absolutely nothing. POINTLESS.
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8-05-2009 @ 9:00PM
Inadequate Wife said...My experience suggests that bullies will tease anyone who is different that themselves -- it doesn't matter what the reason is.
From a bully's perspective, if you're "different" because you're too fat, too thin, too short, too tall, too dumb, too smart, you will be teased. Same as if your parents are too rich or too poor, your house is too big or too small or on the wrong side of the street. Same with eyeglasses, dental braces, home-sewn clothes, or clothes bought from the wrong store.
The study refers to characteristics that "can be controlled". Sorry, I just don't agree that it's that simple. We all can't be rich, just the right height and weight, with perfect teeth and vision. No parent wants their kid to be a victim of bullying -- so is the study really just blaming the victim's parents for not having the right gene pool or career opportunities?
8-07-2009 @ 1:46PM
Amber said...Fat kids get teased not Poor.
That is soooo not true. I agree with previous poster, all it takes to get picked on is being, "different". What is weird is that in my school growing up, a lot of our bullies were considered over weight.
Paymyownway...I was in the same situation. My EX friend was the same way, I swear every word you said!!!! She would prop the bottle up & go on the porch & smoke. She fed a 2 MONTH OLD foods I was not even feeding my 7 month old yet. This baby weighed 20lbs at 4 months old. When the baby fusses(not even a real cry) she goes over there & gives her a binkie, if that doesn't work she gives her another bottle...even if she just had one. The baby could not even stand up with support. It's like she never gave her any attention. The baby was never on the floor playing, or in her arms, it was always in a swing, or in a bouncy chair. When she would "Drop By", I would take the baby & play with her, & let her play in the floor. That baby could not even roll over, she was close to 8 months. Never thought my friend would be such a lazy, mother. I have told her only a little of my concerns, but I still can't stand to be around her.
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