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Behavior and Psychology

Adolescents bullying and young adults body mass index and obesity: a longitudinal study

International Journal of Obesity volume 37, pages 1140–1146 (2013)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objective:

To examine whether adolescent males and females who were victims of bullying were at greater risk of a higher body mass index (BMI) and obesity by young adulthood.

Design:

Secondary analysis of data from a community-based cohort study.

Subjects:

A sub-sample of 1694 offspring (50% males) who were participants in the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy (MUSP), Brisbane, and who provided bullying information at 14 years and physical assessment at 21 years.

Main Outcome Measures:

BMI and its categories as normal, overweight or obese at 21 years.

Results:

One in two adolescent males and one in three adolescent females reported that they had been bullied at school by others. We found that adolescent males and females who were bullied were at a significantly greater risk of a higher BMI and obesity by young adulthood. Fourteen-year-old males who were occasionally/often bullied at school had 0.64 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.02, 1.27) kg m2 greater mean BMI by 21 years compared with males who were never bullied by 14 years. This mean difference in BMI was 1.52, (95% CI: 0.75, 2.29) kg m2 for females. Similarly, the odds of being obese were 2.54 (95% CI: 1.58, 4.09) times at 21 years for those males who were bullied occasionally/often compared with adolescent males who were never bullied. For females, this was 2.18 (95% CI: 1.40, 3.39). Overweight adolescents who experienced bullying had the greatest increase in BMI by young adulthood. Adjusting for potential confounding or mediating factors, the associations remain strong for males but are attenuated for females.

Conclusions:

The findings of this study suggest that both male and female adolescents who were bullied often/sometimes by their peer group at 14 years were at greater risk of higher BMI and obesity by young adulthood.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank the National Health and Medical Research Council and National Heart Foundation for funding this project. AAM was supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Career Development Awards for this work. The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and not necessarily any funding body. The authors had full access to all data, and no funding bodies influenced the analysis or interpretation of results. The authors thank the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy team, the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and the Schools of Social Science and Population Health at the University of Queensland for their support. They specifically thank members of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy 21-Year follow-up team, including Rosemary Aird, Stacey Allerton, Ruth Armstrong, Samantha Batchelor, Pauline Bonnici, Rachael Bor, Emma Brown, Justine Butcher, Fiona Cameron, Narelle Constantine, Sophie Gudgeon, Jatinder Kaur, Jane Maclean, Amanda Margerison, Kobie Mulligan, Kelly Quinlan, Marie Seeman and Jennifer Winn.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Population Health, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    A A Mamun, G M Williams & J M Najman

  2. Mater Children’s Hospital, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    M J O'Callaghan

  3. School of Social Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    J M Najman

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  1. A A Mamun
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  4. J M Najman
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Correspondence to A A Mamun.

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Mamun, A., O'Callaghan, M., Williams, G. et al. Adolescents bullying and young adults body mass index and obesity: a longitudinal study. Int J Obes 37, 1140–1146 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/ijo.2012.182

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