title: Teacher and peer reports of overweight and bullying among young primary school children.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Overweight is a potential risk factor for peer victimization in late childhood and adolescence. The current study investigated the association between BMI in early primary school and different bullying involvement roles (uninvolved, bully, victim, and bully-victim) as reported by teachers and children themselves.
  
  
  METHODS
  In a population-based study in the Netherlands, measured BMI and teacher-reported bullying behavior were available for 4364 children (mean age = 6.2 years). In a subsample of 1327 children, a peer nomination method was used to obtain child reports of bullying.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In both teacher- and child-reported data, a higher BMI was associated with more victimization and more bullying perpetration. For instance, a 1-point increase in BMI was associated with a 0.05 increase on the standardized teacher-reported victimization score (95% confidence interval, 0.03 to 0.07; P < .001). Combining the victimization and bullying scores into different types of bullying involvement showed that children with obesity, but not children with overweight, had a significantly higher risk to be a bully-victim (odds ratio = 2.25; 95% confidence interval, 1.62 to 3.14) than normal-weight peers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  At school entry, a high BMI is a risk factor associated with victimization and bullying perpetration, with obese children particularly likely to be victims and aggressors. Results were consistent for teacher and child reports of bullying, supporting the validity of our findings. Possibly, obesity triggers peer problems, but the association may also reflect a common underlying cause that makes obese children vulnerable to bullying involvement.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, and Institute of Psychology, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, Netherlands; p.w.jansen@erasmusmc.nl.
authors.forename: Pauline W
authors.initials: PW
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, and The Generation R Study Group, and.
authors.forename: Marina
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verlinden
authors.affiliation: Municipal Public Health Service Rotterdam Rijnmond, Rotterdam, Netherlands.
authors.forename: Anke
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Dommisse-van Berkel
authors.affiliation: Municipal Public Health Service Rotterdam Rijnmond, Rotterdam, Netherlands Departments of Public Health.
authors.forename: Cathelijne L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mieloo
authors.affiliation: Departments of Public Health.
authors.forename: Hein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Raat
authors.affiliation: Epidemiology, and.
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hofman
authors.affiliation: The Generation R Study Group, and Epidemiology, and Pediatrics, Erasmus MC-Sophia Children's Hospital, Rotterdam, Netherlands;
authors.forename: Vincent W V
authors.initials: VW
authors.lastname: Jaddoe
authors.affiliation: Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, and.
authors.forename: Frank C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Verhulst
authors.affiliation: Municipal Public Health Service Rotterdam Rijnmond, Rotterdam, Netherlands Departments of Public Health.
authors.forename: Wilma
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Jansen
authors.affiliation: Departments of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychology, and Epidemiology, and Psychiatry, Erasmus University Medical Center, Rotterdam, Netherlands; and.
authors.forename: Henning
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Tiemeier
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D058445:Bullying / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005178:Faculty; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009426:Netherlands / Q000453:epidemiology; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D011159:Population Surveillance / Q000379:methods; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools
keywords: bullying; child; obesity; overweight; school; teacher; victim; weight status