Obese teens are on both sides of the bullying divide with a greater likelihood of being victims and perpetrators compared to their peers, a new study suggests.

Lead author Atif Kukaswadia of Queen’s University said the findings are built on a previous cross-sectional study by co-authors and Queen’s professors Wendy Craig, Ian Janssen and William Pickett, which showed obese kids were more likely to be involved in bullying.

For the current study published in Obesity Facts, the European Journal of Obesity, researchers looked at a sample of 1,738 students at 16 Ontario high schools in 2006 and 2007. The youths were participants in the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children Survey.

Youngsters were asked questions about bullying involvement with two specific forms of bullying investigated: physical and relational. Relational bullying refers to excluding or ignoring an individual or spreading false rumours or lies about a person.

Perpetration of physical bullying was assessed through the question: “I hit, kicked, pushed, shoved around, or locked another student(s) indoors.”

Self-reported weight and height measurements were calculated to determine body-mass index, or BMI.

Among females who weren’t bullied in 2006, Kukaswadia said 14.8 per cent of obese females perpetrated relational bullying in 2007, compared to two per cent of overweight females and 3.8 per cent of normal weight females.

Researchers found approximately two-fold increases in the odds of bullying involvement among obese males as victims and perpetrators of physical bullying.

They conclude that their findings are in line with previous cross-sectional studies confirming obese kids are “at risk for social consequences attributal to their appearance.”

Obese teens can be both bullies and victims: study