Obese girls are half as likely to go to college as their thinner counterparts, according to a new study from the University of Texas/Austin.
However, if their high school has a population that is more than 20% overweight, then they are just as likely to go to college as other girls their age. The effect does not hold true for boys.
Dr. Robert Crosnoe found that obese girls were 63% more "self-rejecting" than those without a weight problem. He believes that is because they are more likely to be teased, bullied and rejected by their peers, and then they "internalize that negativity." Dr. Crosnoe and his colleagues studied over 11,000 students from 128 different schools.
"Overweight kids are just unhappy at school and it does things to them in the present that has long-term consequences," he said.
This study appears in the July issue of Sociology of Education.
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