A new study has found that overweight children, especially girls, show signs of the negative consequences of being overweight as early as kindergarten.
Both boys and girls who are overweight from kindergarten through third grade display more depression, anxiety and loneliness, and those negative feelings worsen over time.
The researchers examined the social and behavioral development of 8,000 school-age children. They evaluated factors that have not been studied previously, including age at becoming overweight and length of time being overweight.