title: Obesity as a determinant of two forms of bullying in Ontario youth: a short report.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Obesity can have negative effects in terms of stigma and discriminatory behavior. Past cross-sectional analyses have shown that overweight and obese youths are more likely to be involved in bullying. Here, we examine such relationships in a longitudinal analysis. Study outcomes were self-reports of: i) physical bullying victimization and perpetration and ii) relational bullying victimization and perpetration.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were administered the Health Behaviour in School-Age Children Survey in 2006 and then again in 2007, and included 1,738 youths from 17 Ontario high schools. Relationships between adiposity and each of the four forms of bullying were evaluated using multi-level analyses.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Excess adiposity was shown to precede bullying involvement in this study. Obese and overweight males reported 2-fold increases in both physical and relational victimization, while obese females reported 3-fold increases in perpetration of relational bullying. Among those free of bullying at baseline (2006), significant increases in perpetration of relational bullying were reported by obese females in 2007 relative to normal-weight females (14.8 vs. 3.8% among normal-weight girls; p = 0.02).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings are congruent with previous cross-sectional studies and confirm that obese youths are at increased risk of social consequences attributable to their appearance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen's University, Kingston, ON, Canada. atif.ak@gmail.com
authors.forename: Atif
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kukaswadia
authors.forename: Wendy
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Craig
authors.forename: Ian
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Janssen
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Pickett
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D058445:Bullying; D019548:Crime Victims; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity; D009864:Ontario; D012016:Reference Values; D012574:Schools; D057566:Self Report; D012737:Sex Factors; D012938:Social Perception; D014754:Violence