Gender Differences and Variation in Weight-Based Peer Victimization among Overweight Youth

• In Event: 3581 - Section on Sociology of Children and Youth Refereed Roundtable Session
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: Table 03. Children, Youth and Stratification Processes

Abstract

Why are some young people teased about their weight while others are not? Are there gender differences in the experiences of weight-based peer victimization? Using interview data from participants at a children’s weight loss camp, I argue that there is actually a great deal of variability regarding where youth locate themselves in the system of embodied inequality and whether weight adversely affects their lives through peer-victimization. I explain how children negotiate peer relationships, teasing, and stigma related to body weight as well as the varied experiences that the children had with their friends and peers. The children’s experiences ranged from feeling self-conscious without direct comments regarding their weight to overt, consistent victimization from peers. The two factors that had the greatest impact on whether or not a child was bullied was how much the child weighed and whether there were emotional, mental, or behavioral issues present. Most of the campers who were bullied had social challenges that were not weight-related although most of the teasing from their peers was weight-based in content. The campers who were not overtly or consistently bullied were more likely to be in the Normal or Overweight BMI categories, have quiet personalities, attend small schools with less of a clique structure, and not have a mental health issues.

Author

• Laura B. Backstrom, Florida Atlantic University