As childhood obesity rates continue to increase, experts agree that more information is needed about the implications of being overweight as a step toward reversing current trends.

Now, a new University of Missouri study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.

"Overweight is widely considered a stigmatizing condition and overweight individuals are typically blamed for their situation. The experience of being stigmatized often leads to negative feelings, even in children."

MU researchers used the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K) to examine the social and behavioral development of 8,000 school-age children from kindergarten entry through third grade. The researchers evaluated factors that have not been studied previously: age at becoming overweight and length of time being overweight.

"Girls who were consistently overweight, from kindergarten through third grade, and girls who were approaching being overweight were viewed less favorably than girls who were never overweight," said Gable, an MU State Extension Specialist. "Teachers reported that these girls had less positive social relations and displayed less self-control and more acting out than never-overweight girls."

The results indicate that larger than average children, especially girls, experience social and behavioral challenges before they reach the 95th percentile of the Body Mass Index and are classified as being overweight. More research is needed to develop alternative approaches for categorizing children's weight and creating effective intervention programs, Gable said.

Source: University of Missouri-Columbia