Winslet bullied as a teen

Children as young as nine are dieting to stop school bullies teasing them about their bodies, according to new research.

The evidence suggests that one in five nine-year-old girls are victimised by their classmates for being fat - despite the fact that many are not actually overweight.

The problem is almost as acute among young boys - 16 per cent of whom say they have been teased or bullied about their shape.

Actress Kate Winslet revealed that, at the age of 16, she was miserable because she was targeted by bullies for weighing 13 stone.

"As a teenager, I became shy because I was overweight and called 'Blubber'.
"I couldn't wear jeans because I looked like the back end of a bus, always had the wrong clothes and shoes, and nothing fitted. I was never a weird teenager but I was miserable."

Today child-protection groups blamed media advertisements and features about slimming, calling on adults to set a better example to youngsters.

The research was carried out by clinical psychologists at the University of Leeds and will be presented to the sixth London International Eating Disorders Conference this week.

A total of 383 children aged nine years and eight months took part in the study, which was designed to examine the scale of "fatteasing" among pre-adolescent children.

The study - the first of its kind in Britain - found that 21 per cent of the girls and 16 per cent of the boys had been teased about their weight. Half of the children whom doctors would consider overweight or clinically obese said they were bullied about the problem.

The children were also asked whether they were guilty of bullying classmates for being fat themselves. Boys were more likely to confess to it than girls, with 13 per cent saying they had teased other pupils for being fat, but only eight per cent of girls admitting to the practice.

Researchers Andrew Hill and Clea Waterson concluded: "This study is unique in its focus on fat-teasing and on the bullies along with the bullied. The outcome shows that fat-teasing is a relatively common experience for both boys and girls."

Previous studies into weight-related bullying have not distinguished between teasing about being overweight and teasing about being underweight. In the latest study, children who were teased about being fat had significantly lower self-esteem than their classmates, scoring lower on all measures of self-competence and self-worth.

The researchers said: "They were also more likely to report dieting and received less attractiveness nominations from their peers."

Obesity is one of the most serious health problems in the UK, with the number of people who are overweight increasing every year.

Last week, a report by the Institute of Child Health in London revealed that children's average waist size has shot up by almost two and a half inches in the past decade, thanks to junk food and sedentary lifestyles.

Today ChildLine, which receives almost 20,000 calls a year from children upset about bullying, called on parents and older siblings to discourage youngsters from teasing their classmates about body weight.

A spokeswoman for the charity said: "We take lots of calls from children who are being teased at school for being fat. It is very worrying that children as young as nine should be resorting to dieting. But it is hardly surprising, when there is so much about weight and dieting in the media.

She added: "Children are also picking it up from their older brothers and sisters and from their parents. They need to set a better example."