Association between Bullying and Obesity among Intermediate School Students in Mosul City
Abstract
Background: One of the most serious medical conditions in the world for children whom attended school is childhood obesity. The accumulation of excessive body fat as consequence of an imbalance between energy intake and expenditure is known as obesity, and it is an epidemic on a worldwide basis. Over 650 million those broadly have been identified to be obese by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2021).
Objectives: The aim of the study was to investigate the association between bullying and obesity among intermediate school students in Mosul city.
Methods and materials: A quantitative (non-experimental), descriptive, cross-sectional study design was used to achieve the objective of the study, the total sample included 151 adolescents that selected from eight intermediate schools aged between 12-15 years with Body Mass Index above than normal according to the WHO growth charts for BMI for age from the period of 10th November 2023 to 10th January 2024. Data collected using questionnaire Part I: consist of demographical data, Part II: consist of questionnaire of bullying scale of Olweus (2003) with some modification on the questions.
Results: The study showed that the majority of the study sample were males 55%, 29% of the study participants were being victims of bullying and the heights percentage of them being victims of verbal bullying 37.1% and the lower percentage being victims of physical bullying 17.2%, and the study revealed that the adolescents with higher body mass index (BMI) were more likely to report higher frequency of bullying victimization.
Conclusions: this study revealed that was strong association between bullying types and increase Body Mass Index, also significant association between increase bullying victimization and obesity, victimization of verbal bullying was the most prevalent form. Teachers should be given guidelines to enhance students' perceptions of obese peers, provide support to bullied students.
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