title: Bullying and Victimization in Overweight and Obese Outpatient Children and Adolescents: An Italian Multicentric Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Being overweight or obese is one of the most common reasons that children and adolescents are teased at school. We carried out a study in order to investigate: i) the relation between weight status and school bullying and ii) the relation between weight status categories and types of victimization and bullying in an outpatient sample of Italian children and adolescents with different degrees of overweight from minimal overweight up to severe obesity.
  
  
  METHODS
  Nine-hundred-forty-seven outpatient children and adolescents (age range 6.0-14.0 years) were recruited in 14 hospitals distributed over the country of Italy. The participants were classified as normal-weight (N = 129), overweight (N = 126), moderately obese (N = 568), and severely obese (N = 124). The nature and extent of verbal, physical and relational bullying and victimization were assessed with an adapted version of the revised Olweus bully-victim questionnaire. Each participant was coded as bully, victim, bully-victim, or not involved.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Normal-weight and overweight participants were less involved in bullying than obese participants; severely obese males were more involved in the double role of bully and victim. Severely obese children and adolescents suffered not only from verbal victimization but also from physical victimization and exclusion from group activities. Weight status categories were not directly related to bullying behaviour; however severely obese males perpetrated more bullying behaviour compared to severely obese females.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Obesity and bullying among children and adolescents are of ongoing concern worldwide and may be closely related. Common strategies of intervention are needed to cope with these two social health challenges.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Psicologia, Seconda Università di Napoli, Caserta, Italy.
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bacchini
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Pediatria Specialistica e Sistematica, AORN Santobono Pausilipon Annunziata, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Maria Rosaria
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Licenziati
authors.affiliation: Servizio di Dietologia Clinica, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Garrasi
authors.affiliation: Centro di Prevenzione Diagnosi e Cura dell'Obesità in Età Evolutiva U.O. Pediatria, Presidio Ospedaliero di Gallipoli, Lecce, Italy.
authors.forename: Nicola
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Corciulo
authors.affiliation: SOC Clinica Pediatrica, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria, Udine, Italy.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Driul
authors.affiliation: U.O. di Pediatria, Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria S. Anna, Ferrara, Italy.
authors.forename: Rita
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Tanas
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento della Donna, del Bambino e di Chirurgia Generale e Specialistica, Seconda Università di Napoli, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Perla Maria
authors.initials: PM
authors.lastname: Fiumani
authors.affiliation: UO di Pediatria, Ospedale S. Liberatore, Atri, Italy.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Di Pietro
authors.affiliation: UOC di Malattie Metaboliche ed Endocrinologia Pediatrica A.O.U. Policlinico di Bari, Bari, Italy.
authors.forename: Sabino
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pesce
authors.affiliation: U.O.S. di Patologia Endocrina Autoimmune, Ospedale Pediatrico Bambino Gesù IRCCS, Palidoro, Roma, Italy.
authors.forename: Antonino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Crinò
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche, Unità Operativa di Pediatria, Programma di Endocrinologia Pediatrica, Policlinico Universitario S. Orsola Malpighi, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Giulio
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Maltoni
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche e Chirurgiche Materno-Infantili e dell'Adulto, Università di Modena e Reggio Emilia, Modena, Italy.
authors.forename: Lorenzo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Iughetti
authors.affiliation: Istituto Auxologico Italiano, IRCCS, Divisione di Auxologia e Malattie Metaboliche, Verbania, Italy.
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sartorio
authors.affiliation: Clinica Pediatrica, Ospedale F. Del Ponte, Varese, Italy.
authors.forename: Manuela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Deiana
authors.affiliation: U.O.C. di Pediatria, Ospedale Maggiore, Ausl di Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lombardi
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Motorie e del Benessere, Università degli Studi di Napoli Parthenope, Napoli, Italy.
authors.forename: Giuliana
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Valerio
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001835:Body Weight; D058445:Bullying / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D002648:Child; D019548:Crime Victims / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010045:Outpatients / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012737:Sex Factors