Obese girls much less likely to attend college: U.S. study
Last Updated: Monday, July 23, 2007 | 1:44 PM ET
CBC News
After tracking 11,000 American adolescents, a study released Monday found that following secondary school, obese girls in the U.S. were half as likely to enrol in college, versus their non-obese peers.
Written by Robert Crosnoe, from the University of Texas at Austin, the study was published in the July issue of the journal, Sociology of Education. It defines obese young people as those individuals at the highest end of the body mass index (BMI), a ratio of weight to height.
It found that, "Obese girls were less likely to enter college after high school than were their non-obese peers, especially when they attended schools in which obesity was relatively uncommon."
Crosnoe pointed to a variety of issues as to why young obese women are less likely to attend college. The paper discussed the theories that, compared to boys, girls are more focused on their body and appearance and that their self-perception has a greater effect on their education.
The study said that obese girls are more likely to consider committing suicide, have negative self-images, and use alcohol and marijuana.
Interestingly the report found that obese boys "did not differ from their peers — no matter what their school context — in college enrolment."
"How students fit in with or stand out from their peers at school is of the utmost importance to their educational pathways. Rather than chalking up the social challenges of school life as harmless parts of growing up, therefore we need to assess the risks that are associated with these challenges as ways of easing passage through the educational system," added the study's author, citing previous research.
The study compiled data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health in the U.S., to look at the gendered link between obesity and education.
Guiding the investigation were three questions: Why does obesity affect college enrolment? In what contexts are the effects most common? And for whom are the effects most common?
