Child Overweight? Peers Will Pick Skinnier Kids for Friends
After battling all the issues that come with being overweight -- poor health, body image concerns, even mobility problems for some -- a new study has found that overweight kids may have a problem getting friends, too. The study showed that overweight kids are less likely than their thinner counterparts to be chosen as a friend by their peers. Newswise.com reports that t he study, involving data from almost 60,000 students from 88 middle and high schools, used a social networking approach asking adolescent participants, at an average age of 15, to identify their five closest female friends and five closest male friends. "Body mass index was self-reported and participants were categorized as underweight, healthy weight, overweight or obese," the Web site notes.. Results from the study indicate that non-overweight youths were more likely to select non-overweight friends than friends who carried extra weight. But while the heavier students didn't pay much attention to