Body Size, Societal Views of

Social Feedback during Childhood and Adolescence

Overweight and obese girls receive negative feedback about their weight at an early age. Research conducted with young participants suggests that school-aged children and adolescents give fewer peer nominations and fewer best friend ratings to peers who are fat (Eisenberg et al., 2003; Strauss & Pollack, 2003). Strauss and Pollack (2003), whose National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health consisted of more than 17,500 participants, collected information on the social networks and friendships of adolescents between the ages of 13 and 18. Not only were overweight adolescents more likely to be socially marginalized than were normal weight adolescents, they also tended to be more socially isolated. While those who were overweight listed as many friends as their normal weight peers, over-weight adolescents received significantly fewer friendship nominations from others than were received by normal weight adolescents. In fact, over-weight adolescents were about 70% more likely to possess a complete absence of friendship nominations than their normal weight peers. In addition, adolescents who nominated overweight peers as their friends received fewer peer nominations than did friends of nonoverweight participants, and interestingly, these friends of overweight respondents tended to be less popular themselves. These findings tended to be most dramatic for overweight girls.

Another recent study suggests that overweight school-aged children must cope not only with fewer friends but also with consistent teasing from peers (Eisenberg et al., 2003). Nearly 4,750 adolescents in middle and high school were weighed and measured and asked to answer questions about being teased. Thirty percent of girls reported being teased by peers about their weight. Teasing ranged from derogatory name-calling such as “fatso” to harsh directives such as “Maybe you should have a salad instead of a burger.” Such teasing was consistently associated with low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, high depressive symptoms, and thinking about and attempting suicide.

Interestingly, feedback about weight is not uniquely provided by other students, but also by teachers and coaches. School employees make comments about the weights of their students. In a survey of members of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (NAAFA), overweight members reported that when they were students, teachers told their parents to place them on a diet and that the student would receive a prize if weight was successfully lost (Rothblum, Brand, Miller, & Oetjen, 1989). The stigma of obesity also influenced the academic and extracurricular experience of overweight students. [Page 161]In particular, members reported being denied places on honor rolls, sports teams, leadership programs, performing arts opportunities, and cheerleading squads more so than average or thin people (Rothblum et al., 1989). Further, students reported that they received lower grades and were denied teacher support for college admission even though they believed that they scored similarly to thin and normal figured students on tests and homework. In fact, if recommendations were written, fat students reported that teachers wrote negative comments about their weight to their chosen colleges (Rothblum et al., 1989). It is not surprising, then, that “a fat high school girl has one-third the chance of getting into college than a thin girl, even though of the same intelligence” (Hatfield & Sprecher, 1986).

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