Overweight girls are half as likely to go to college as non-overweight girls, claims a sociology professor at UT Austin.

In a new report published in this month's Sociology of Education journal, associate professor Robert Crosnoe goes on to say that obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they've attended a high school where obesity is uncommon, suggesting that this disparity may be caused by various mental health and behavioral issues. Furthermore, his findings indicate that the likelihood of attempted suicide and drug and alcohol use is higher among overweight girls.

"Obesity has been identified as a serious public health issue, but these results indicate the harmful effects extend far beyond physical health," said Crosnoe.

The findings were extrapolated from data provided by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which tracked nearly 11,000 American teens. Interestingly, when it came to boys, the rate of college attendance did not vary between those who were and weren't overweight.

"That girls are far more vulnerable to the non-health risks of obesity reinforces the notion that body image is more important to girls' self-concept and that social norms have greater effects on the education of girls than boys," Crosnoe noted.

Photo by size8jeans on flickr