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Today I went to an individualized educational plan (IEP) meeting for one of my middle school students. The parent reported that her son “is constantly being bullied at school." She said he is being harassed by other students because of his disability. It happens before and after school. Once, students stole his hat and put it in the trash. Another time, they took his water bottle and put sand in it.

A new study shows that obese kids are 65 percent more likely to be bullied than their peers of normal weight. Wendy Craig, a professor of psychology, highlighted the importance of teachers being proactive when she told CNN, “bullying and obesity are both major public health concerns that teachers and schools—and not just parents—need to address.”

As the number of obese and overweight children grows, so does size bias.

Teacher bullying is a real phenomenon, but it’s always been hard to quantify—until now.

Not all kids need the same inteventions. Check out part two of our three-part series for bullying interventions that focus on the 15 percent of students who need social skills training to stop bullying.