Kids struggle in high school for a lot of reasons — drugs, lack of interest, trouble at home, to name a few. But a new study in the July issue of Sociology of Education highlights a factor that doesn't immediately come to mind: obesity. Using college enrollment as a measure of academic success, University of Texas at Austin sociologist Robert Crosnoe found that obese students had a worse experience at school than their thinner peers and were less likely to attend college, and that the effects of being overweight hurt girls far more than boys.
Obese girls were only half as likely as non-obese girls to go to college after high school, and were even less likely to enter college if they went to a high school where few other students were overweight, says Crosnoe. But obese girls who went to high school with a sizable overweight population — where heavy girls represented about 20% of the student body — had normal odds of attending college. "The more it makes you stand out from the crowd, the worse it is," says Crosnoe.
Alternatively, obese boys were immune to what Crosnoe terms the "college effect" and were just as likely as normal-weight students to go to college. Crosnoe thinks the difference has to do with the fact that body and appearance are more central to girls' self-concept than to boys', and that the negative social effects of obesity have a more powerful impact on girls' lives, including their academic careers.
Recent research has shown that overweight youngsters are often teased, ostracized and isolated by their peers, and are sometimes treated differently by teachers and even parents. According to Crosnoe, children often internalize this negative social feedback — whether real or perceived — which can lead to alcohol and drug use, failure in school, truancy and suicidal thoughts. "They are just unhappy at school," he says, "and it does things to them in the present that have long term consequences."
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Obese girls were only half as likely as non-obese girls to go to college after high school, and were even less likely to enter college if they went to a high school where few other students were overweight, says Crosnoe. But obese girls who went to high school with a sizable overweight population — where heavy girls represented about 20% of the student body — had normal odds of attending college. "The more it makes you stand out from the crowd, the worse it is," says Crosnoe.
Alternatively, obese boys were immune to what Crosnoe terms the "college effect" and were just as likely as normal-weight students to go to college. Crosnoe thinks the difference has to do with the fact that body and appearance are more central to girls' self-concept than to boys', and that the negative social effects of obesity have a more powerful impact on girls' lives, including their academic careers.
Recent research has shown that overweight youngsters are often teased, ostracized and isolated by their peers, and are sometimes treated differently by teachers and even parents. According to Crosnoe, children often internalize this negative social feedback — whether real or perceived — which can lead to alcohol and drug use, failure in school, truancy and suicidal thoughts. "They are just unhappy at school," he says, "and it does things to them in the present that have long term consequences."
Discuss Add this link to... Bury
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