Comments on: A Reason For Overweight Kids To Exercise?

By: Jackie

Jackie — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 10:35:52 +0000

Oh here we go, trotting out the stereotype that the fat kids are the bullies. The poor skinny kids are having to deal with constant daily harassment, over not being able to “fatten up” and being teased for not ever eating enough! No, that isn’t happening, at least on the massive scale that fat bullying is. I’m making sure nobody decides to flame/whine at me, that I’m forgetting thin people are teased too.

Yeah, it’s the fat kids who are the ones who are bullies. Why don’t these geniuses look into how many of these kids became bullies, to defend themselves from the students who bully them. Is it bullying, or a defense from students who bully with the intent of sadism, never getting punished or taught that they’re wrong.

Is it bullying, when it’s a last ditch effort, to stop the constant tormenting that someone endures at their school, because teasing about being fat is acceptable? Would these people rather the kid bring a gun to school instead?

By: littlem

littlem — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 13:00:28 +0000

What vesta44 said.

Plus I think it’s interesting that there was little to no probe into what might have aggravated the angry kids in the first place, hmmm? It wouldn’t have been bullying from the thin kids, would it?

That’s where I think the justifiable cynicism comes in, IMO.

By: M

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:46:56 +0000

Edit: the link didn’t say anything about weight lost, just to clarify what I meant!

By: M

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 00:46:06 +0000

As I see it, if you’re likely to be a target you have two choices:
1. Be the victim
2. Take the offensive, and bully others before they can attack you

The link didn’t actually say anything about weight, but if the kids lost weight they might be less likely to be targets and that would change their behavior. Or, as reuters said, the extra attention the kids got may have made the difference.

I’d be curious to read the actual study (rather than the reuters summary).

By: Herbal Remedies Girl

Herbal Remedies Girl — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 21:22:24 +0000

I agree with you. I also would think that anger would be reduced in Anyone who exercises because it helps you relive built up tension. That’s an interesting post!

By: mccn

mccn — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 16:06:40 +0000

After I began exercising regularly in grad school, I found I was actually more likely to be angry or upset than I had been before. Maybe that was a good thing – that is, maybe I hadn’t been standing up enough for myself prior to that. But it was a little unsettling at first to notice myself suddenly starting to get all fired up about something I would have blown off before!

By: Rei

Rei — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 06:54:49 +0000

Then how come so many of the athletics kids in my old school were some of the most violent and ruthless bullies I have ever had the misfortune to experience in my life?

By: Fantine

Fantine — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 02:13:51 +0000

I think the reason the overweight bullies were targeted is because obviously (cue eyeroll), if they are overweight, they can’t possibly be getting any exercise. Those thin bullies must be bullies for other reasons.

By: Lola

Lola — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 23:41:51 +0000

i do also think they should have done the study with some thin bullies but i think the main reason they targeted overweight children was because of the whole ‘overweight children are more likely to be bullies’ thing that was mentioned

By: vesta44

vesta44 — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 22:06:01 +0000

What I want to know is why they didn’t take some of those bullying thin kids and make them exercise and see if that lessened the amount of bullying they did. Why is it always just the fat ones who have to exercise in order to improve mood and fitness, etc? Why can’t they do the same thing with the unfit, moody, bullying thin kids?