Overweight children who are victims of bullying are less likely to engage in physical activity, new research suggests. Dr. Eric A. Storch, who led the study said: “The health implications of this are clear in that these youth will receive less activity,” making it more difficult for them to shed pounds.

Most children are bullied at some time in their childhood, but overweight children are particularly vulnerable to playground taunts.

Storch, an assistant professor of psychiatry and pediatrics at the University of Florida’s College of Medicine in Gainesville and colleagues studied 92 overweight and at-risk for being overweight children between the ages of 8 and 18 to find out how bullying affected their exercise.

They report, in the Journal of Pediatric Psychology, that 25 percent of children reported that bullying was a significant problem for them and that it often led them to avoid situations where they are likely to be picked on, namely gym class and sports.

“We found that as rates of peer victimization among overweight kids went up, rates of physical activity went down,” Storch said in a university statement.

The researchers also found ties between bullying and depression, loneliness and anxiety. “Peer victimization,” Storch explained, “is related to depression - this is nothing surprising; however, what is unique is that these depressive symptoms help tell us why victimized overweight kids are less active.”

Parents and schools need to be active in combating peer victimization through teacher training and school-wide prevention programs, Storch said.

Pediatricians, he added, also need to assess the social experiences of their overweight pediatric patients in understanding low rates of physical activity.

SOURCE: Journal of Pediatric Psychology online April 2006.