Adolescents teased about their weight may be at increased risk for suicidal thoughts and suicide attempts than peers who are not teased, regardless of their actual weight, according to an article in the August issue of the Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine.

According to the authors, bullying and hate-speech have come under scientific and public scrutiny in the international community in recent years, but little research has focused on weight-based teasing. Weight-based teasing by peers is widespread, especially for overweight individuals, and has been identified as a risk factor for low self-esteem, dissatisfaction with body image, and eating disorders. Given the importance placed on body size in the United States and many other countries, weight-based teasing may pose a serious threat to the health and well-being of young people.

Marla E. Eisenberg, Sc.D., M.P.H., and her American colleagues determined the associations of weight-based teasing with body satisfaction, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts among a group of 4,746 adolescents in the school systems of a single city and its suburbs. In addition to student surveys, the researchers obtained height and weight data on all participants.

Among the 81.5 percent of students who completed and returned the survey, 30 percent of adolescent girls and 24.7 percent of adolescent boys reported being teased by peers about their weight; 28.7 percent of the girls and 16.1 percent of the boys reported being teased by family members about their weight. Approximately 14.6 percent of the girls and 9.6 percent of the boys reported being teased by both peers and family members.

Teasing about body weight was consistently associated with low body satisfaction, low self-esteem, high level of depressive symptoms, and suicidal ideation and suicide attempts. Teasing from both peers and parents was generally associated with a higher prevalence of emotional problems than teasing from a single source or absence of experience with teasing. The association with teasing remained the same regardless of whether the adolescents were actually overweight or not.

The authors wrote, "Of particular concern are the alarming rates of suicidal ideation and attempts associated with weight-based teasing, which are [higher] among those who were teased compared with those not teased."

"Physicians and other health care providers and health educators should recognize the potential importance of weight-based teasing for their young patients and actively counter unrealistic norms regarding body weight and shape," the researchers concluded. "They should inquire about the teasing experiences of children and adolescents, including if they have been teased, how much it bothered them, and how they dealt with it. Physicians and other health care providers may want to discuss the prevalence of teasing and its unacceptability, and advocate for a more reasonable and healthy weight standard for their young patients and their families."