Background: Weight-related bullying is a devastating experience for adolescents and is associated
with negative emotional consequences that can be modulated by applying different coping strategies.
Aim: to assess the relation between weight-related bullying and emotional reactions among
adolescents and their coping strategies. Design: A descriptive cross-sectional study design was used
to accomplish this study. Setting: The study was conducted at the nutrition clinic allied to the only
branch of health insurance clinics for school students in Damanhour city (Abo El Reesh) affiliated
to the Public Authority for Health Insurance, Northwestern Delta Branch-Egypt. Sample: A
purposive sample of 400 adolescents comprised the study sample. Tools of data collection: Three
tools were used. Tool I: Adolescents Socio-Demographic Characteristics structured Interview
schedule. Tool II: Weight Related Abuse Questionnaire. Tool III: Coping with bullying scale for
children (CBSC). Results: Obese and slightly underweight adolescents represented 57.2% and 5%,
of the total sample, respectively. The mean score of frequency of verbal bullying was 16.17±12.32,
while that of physical bullying was 3.94±6.62; and the mean scores of negative emotional reactions
resulting from verbal and physical bullying were 22.06±21.58 and 11.40±19.73, respectively.
Regarding coping strategies, Physical distancing was the most common used coping strategy with
average score of 1.24±0.99, while the least used coping strategy was cognitive approach with
average score of 0.79±0.80. A statistically significant difference was found between verbal or
physical weight-related bullying and different coping strategies as well as emotional reactions
(p < 0.001). Conclusion: Increased body mass index was associated with verbal and physical
bullying, which in turn led to experiencing negative emotional reactions among adolescents.
Recommendations: Increase awareness about weight-related bullying and its negative
consequences on health in order to reduce its prevalence, and to teach adolescents different effective
coping strategies to enable them to cope with bullying in a healthy way.