A new study about the effects of obesity among US teenagers has came up with a interesting conclusion.

The researchers from The University of Texas at Austin has used college enrollment as a measure of academic success.

The study was published in the July issue of the journal Sociology of Education.

By tracking nearly 11,000 American adolescents, the sociologist Robert Crosnoe concluded that obese girls are even less likely to enter college if they attend a high school where obesity is relatively uncommon.

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

Crosnoe's study focused specifically on how obesity predicts maladjustment, and how maladjustment predicts college enrollment.

Crosnoe discovered that self-rejection in obese girls was 63% higher than for non-obese girls. And in one group of obese girls, the rate of class failure was 24% higher than with their non-obese counterparts.

The same trend does not hold true for obese boys. The reason may be that obese girls more often suffer from negative self-images as teenagers.

Crosnoe suggests a number of mental health and behavioral issues seem to play a significant role in keeping obese girls from enrolling in college. The study found obese girls were more likely to consider committing suicide, use alcohol and marijuana and have negative self-images.

"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.