Young girls who are told they are too fat are more likely to be obese at the age of 19, a new study has found.

US researchers monitored the progress of over 2,300 girls, 58% of whom were told at the age of 10 that they were too fat by a parent, sibling, teacher, classmate or friend.

The height and weight of the girls were measured at the start of the study and again when they were 19.

The study found that those who were told they were too fat at the age of 10 were at least 1.6 times more likely to be obese at the age of 19. Furthermore, if the number of people telling a child she was too fat increased, so too did the risk of obesity.

"Simply being labeled as too fat has a measurable effect almost a decade later. We nearly fell off our chairs when we discovered this. Even after we statistically removed the effects of their actual weight, their income, their race and when they reached puberty, the effect remained.

"That means it's not just that heavier girls are called too fat and are still heavy years later; being labeled as too fat is creating an additional likelihood of being obese," commented the study's senior author, Assistant Prof A. Janet Tomiyama, at UCLA.

The researchers suggested that even being called fat may lead to behaviours that increase the risk of obesity.

"Being labeled as too fat may lead people to worry about personally experiencing the stigma and discrimination faced by overweight individuals, and recent research suggests that experiencing or anticipating weight stigma increases stress and can lead to overeating," they noted.

They called on people to focus on maintaining a healthy diet, exercising and not criticising others about their weight.

"When people feel bad, they tend to eat more, not decide to diet or take a jog. Making people feel bad about their weight could increase their levels of the hormone cortisol, which generally leads to weight gain," they added.

Details of these finding are published in the journal, JAMA Pediatrics.