Does Obesity Make Kids Do Worse In School?

"You don't like that I'm fat, so you're calling me stupid?"

Does Obesity Make Kids Do Worse In School? I recently read this article, and predictably, it was maddening.

The article starts, "Puberty is hard enough on kids. It's worse for those [who] don't conform to whatever beauty standards pre-teens are aggressively marketed these days". Already, from the second sentence, a there is a tone of casual victim-blaming. Of course school is harder for those to whom a stigma is attached-- life is harder when you're part of a group which is systematically oppressed.

Apparently a new study has found that "for 11-year-old girls, obesity likely affects educational test scores throughout adolescence. For boys, the evidence remains unclear". To which I say: of course (again). Of course girls are more affected by societal pressure to be thin than boys are. This is male privilege.

Further: of course it's likelier that a girl of size (rather than her thinner peer) will not fare well at school. This has nothing to do with how smart, hard-working or capable she is, and everything to do with:

-Fat shaming. 

-Eating disorders.

-Anxiety and depression.

-Bullying.

All of which a person of size is likelier to be affected by.

Instead of digging for reasons why fat people are worth less than our thin peers (hint: we're not!), let's focus on fighting the stigma attached to obesity.