Obesity and bullying: The complex link

Obesity and bullying: The complex link

By Faten Omar

KUWAIT: Being obese is not always a result of bad eating habits. In fact, there is a complex relationship between obesity, discrimination and bullying. Kuwait ranks among the top countries in the world in terms of obesity amongst its population. The rate of obesity among adults is 40 percent of the total population, while childhood obesity exceeds 35 percent.

It has been proven through numerous studies that bullying and discrimination contribute to mental and physical disorders including obesity, depression and addiction. Recently, a study by Biological Psychiatry found a link between discrimination and deregulated brain-gut microbiome (BGM). The study looked at the role of the BGM system in health problems related to discrimination.

Some teenagers explained to Kuwait Times that school nowadays causes them much stress, which at some point leads to stress eating. Hatan Fatafta pointed out that no one understands the struggle and blames her for overeating, even her family. “I am fat and suffer from bullying, not only from other students, but also by my brother. It went too far when he began to call me names of large animals in front of people. My mother sees obesity as something that I caused to myself and believes