Overweight children bullied more than ever

 

15 February 2001

 

A recent survey conducted by BUPA polled teachers todiscover how the UK's school children feel about their appearance. It revealedthat a staggering 67 percent of teachers have noticed a marked increase in bothmale and female students dieting. Three out of four teachers believe overweightschoolchildren are bullied more than ever before. Some pupils have such a poorbody image that one in five teachers know schoolchildren who dream of havingsurgery to alter their looks.

 

86 percent of teachers who took part in the BUPA surveybelieve that children have never been under greater pressure to look 'right',as dictated by the airbrushed images in the media. This is perhaps anindication as to why our children are so desperate to change their naturalmake-up. Over three quarters of respondents felt that schoolchildren today aremore concerned about the way they look than ever before, wearing more make-up,worrying about beauty and worrying about having the right 'labels' to wear.

 

BUPA also found that 76 percent of teachers believeoverweight schoolchildren are bullied significantly more than any other group anda quarter of teachers have evidence that this behaviour is increasing. Twothirds of teachers have also seen an increase in the incidence of eatingdisorders, both anorexia nervosa and bulimia, as pupils endeavour tocontrol their weight.

 

Dr Paula Franklin, assistant medical director at BUPA,says that the reasons for poor body image are complex. She explained: "Onone hand schoolchildren, particularly teenagers, are bombarded with images oftheir icons looking perfect. At the same time their own bodies are changing andwhile these changes are natural and part of growing up they may seem alarmingand perhaps difficult to deal with. Putting on weight is one of these changesand in most cases puppy-fat does disappear over time."

 

Dr Franklin added: "If pupils are genuinely moreoverweight than in previous generations it is because they take considerablyless exercise.Nearly all the teachers we talked to recognised that children have a much moresedentary lifestyle, at home and at school, than ever before. This worryingfact is underlined by a Department of Healthstudy which shows that rickets is on the increase. This is not due tomalnutrition, as it was at the beginning of the century, but due to childrenstaying indoors more playing computer games."

 

Annabel Karmel, leading nutritionist, explains some of thecomplexities of feeding your offspring the right thing: "At the very timeteenagers need to eat nutritious foods - to help them grow, develop and stayhealthy - they don't want to! Adolescence is a critical time for healthyeating. What children eat today determines their future tomorrow and a diethigh in fat, sugar and salt increases the risk of diabetes,heartdisease and cancer.

 

"Many teenagers are overfed but undernourished,eating far too much junk food. A recent government survey found that nearly afifth of teenage girls are constantly dieting, which robs their bodies of essentialminerals such as calcium for bones and iron and vitamins for brain function andgeneral health".

 

Annabel Karmel also suggests that parents do not justconcentrate on getting their children to eat well at mealtimes: "Teenagerswho lead a busy lifestyle tend to eat on the run, snacking and eatingtakeaways. Very often what teenagers eat between meals can be as important asset mealtimes."

 

Two vital nutrients that teenagers often lack are iron andcalcium. When entering adolescence, boys need around 20 percent more ironduring this rapid muscle growth and girls need around 33 percent more iron oncethey start menstruating.

 

Teenage girls in particular are at risk from irondeficiency because the monthly iron loss during their periods is often not replenishedby an iron-rich diet. Not only does iron deficiency affect physical health andgrowth, it can also affect mental development. Teenagers who choose avegetarian diet are often especially at risk of iron deficiency because they donot eat a good vegetarian source of iron.

 

Calcium is vital in adolescence to help build bone mass inthis period of enormous growth. However, a fifth of 15 to 18 year old girls inthis country are deficient in calcium needed to build bones and avoid osteoporosislater in life.

 

High fibre diets can interfere with calcium and ironabsorption so teenagers should not be given too many high fibre cereals andpulses. Interestingly, white bread is not such a bad alternative to wholemealor wholegrain bread as it is fortified with calcium.

 

Miss Karmel also has a word of caution for parents andguardians about helping children eat healthily: "Teenagers should not beput on a restricted diet. Unlike adults, teenagers are still growing and it isimportant that they eat a variety of healthy foods that provide plenty ofcalcium, protein, iron, vitamins and other essential nutrients. By adopting ahealthier eating plan, a child's weight should keep apace of his increasingheight. No child should go hungry."