Table 2.
Percentage of Parents Who Express Concern about Psychological and Behavioral Consequences of Weight-Based Victimization
| |
Parents of overweight/obese children Degree of concern (%) |
Parents with no overweight/obese children Degree of concern (%) |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| None | Little | Somewhat | Quite | Extreme | None | Little | Somewhat | Quite | Extreme | |
| A. Potential psychological consequences of WBV | ||||||||||
| Depression |
4 |
5 |
14 |
25 |
53 |
3 |
4 |
14 |
24 |
54 |
| Poor body esteem |
3 |
4 |
13 |
30 |
50 |
3 |
5 |
13 |
27 |
51 |
| Low self-esteem |
2 |
4 |
13 |
27 |
54 |
3 |
4 |
12 |
26 |
55 |
| Obsession with weight |
3 |
7 |
18 |
24 |
48 |
3 |
6 |
16 |
28 |
47 |
| Suicidal thoughts |
6 |
7 |
15 |
20 |
51 |
4 |
6 |
13 |
23 |
54 |
| Impaired academic achievement |
5 |
10 |
17 |
26 |
42 |
5 |
10 |
18 |
27 |
41 |
| B. Potential behavioral consequences of WBV | ||||||||||
| Avoidance of physical activities |
5 |
6 |
20 |
33 |
36 |
3 |
8 |
19 |
33 |
36 |
| Avoidance of social activities |
4 |
7 |
20 |
31 |
38 |
3 |
7 |
21 |
32 |
38 |
| Skip class or school |
9 |
8 |
19 |
24 |
40 |
6 |
10 |
24 |
24 |
37 |
| Eat more food |
4 |
7 |
19 |
27 |
44 |
3 |
5 |
20 |
30 |
42 |
| Unhealthy weight loss behaviors |
5 |
7 |
19 |
23 |
45 |
2 |
6 |
17 |
27 |
47 |
| Avoidance of exercise | 5 | 10 | 21 | 27 | 36 | 4 | 9 | 24 | 29 | 33 |
Questionnaire wording asked participants how concerned they were that weight-related bullying would lead children to experience various psychological consequences (A) and behavioral consequences (B). Response options were rated on a 5-point Likert scale from 1 (not at all concerned) to 5 (extremely concerned); weight status of children was based on the CDC classification; using parent's perceived weight status of their children yielded similar results; N=918.
WBV, weight-based victimization.