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A different kind of popularity contest

BoardBuzz was not particularly surprised by a new report linking girls' popularity and weight. Anyone who's ever been to school knows that the popularity contest is never pretty, and now the research supports it. This article which came to us via the Associated Press points out that "Where a teenage girl sees herself on her school's social ladder may sway her future weight, a study of more than 4,000 girls finds. Those who believed they were unpopular gained more weight over a two-year period than girls who viewed themselves as more popular. Researchers said the study showed how a girl's view of her social status has broader health consequences." Of course this is dismaying on a number of levels, least of all the cafeteria hierarchy. It just proves that mental health and physical health do go hand in hand. On the brighter side, the girls, all of whom were still growing, did fall into the "normal" weight category for BMI (which BoardBuzz discussed last week here). "But a gain of two BMI units over two years is more than the typical weight gain for adolescent girls, the researchers said." "'How girls feel about themselves should be part of all obesity prevention strategies,' said the study's lead author, Adina Lemeshow, who began the study as a Harvard School of Public Health graduate student. She now works at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene." The research supports just how important it is for schools to make all students feel safe and comfortable. "Experts know little about how to intervene in teenagers' peer groups to improve health, McNeely said, but when adults set standards in schools, students treat one another with more respect." For more information on BMI, check out NSBA's School Health Program's Web site.

Full post as published by BoardBuzz: NSBA's Daily Weblog on January 08, 2008 (boomark / email).