Overweight children, weight-based teasing and academic performance.
BACKGROUND
School performance of overweight children has been found to be inferior to normal weight children; however, the reason(s) for this link between overweight and academic performance remain unclear. Psychosocial factors, such as weight-based teasing, have been proposed as having a possible mediating role, although they remain largely unexplored.


METHODS
Random parental telephone survey data (N=1 071) of public school students collected as part of the statewide evaluation of Arkansas Act 1220, a law to reduce childhood obesity, were used. Overweight status (body mass index > 85th percentile for gender and age) and weight-based teasing were examined as predictors of poorer school performance.


RESULTS
Overweight status was a significant predictor of poorer school performance (OR=1.51; 95% CI=1.01, 2.25), after adjustment for gender, school level, free and reduced lunch participation, and race. However, the addition of weight-based teasing to the model (with weight category and covariates) reduced the weight category parameter estimate by 24%, becoming non-significant (OR=1.40; 95% CI=0.93, 2.10) and indicating a possible mediating effect of weight-based teasing on the relationship between weight category and school performance. Weight-based teasing was significantly associated with school performance, with lower odds of strong school performance among weight-based teased children (OR=0.44; 95% CI=0.27, 0.74).


CONCLUSIONS
Psychosocial variables, such as weight-based teasing, should be considered in future research examining the impact of childhood obesity on school performance and in future intervention studies.
Krukowski
Rebecca A
RA
Fay W. Boozman College of Public Health, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA. RAKrukowski@uams.edu
West
Delia Smith
DS
Philyaw Perez
Amanda
A
Bursac
Zoran
Z
Phillips
Martha M
MM
Raczynski
James M
JM
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D001131:Arkansas; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D002652:Child Behavior; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007360:Intelligence; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D050177:Overweight / Q000523:psychology*; D011287:Prejudice; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D013240:Stereotyping; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology*