Bullying could have a severe and lasting impact on a child's health, according to a recent study.

Researchers from Boston Children's Hospital found that for bully victims, the negative effects bullying might have on their physical and mental health could add up over the years, Counsel and Heal reported.

"Our research shows that long-term bullying has a severe impact on a child's overall health, and that its negative effects can accumulate and get worse with time," researcher Laura Bogart said in a statement.

Bogart added that the study reinforces the notion that more bullying intervention is needed, "because the sooner we stop a child from being bullied, the less likely bullying is to have a lasting, damaging effect on his or her health down the road."

For the study, investigators surveyed a group of more than 4,000 children and adolescents from the fifth to tenth grade. The periodically interviewed the participants about their experiences with bullying and their mental and physical health, according to a press release.

Based on their results, bullying at any age was associated with worse mental and physical health, increased depressive symptoms and lower self-worth. 

Researchers found that children and adolescents who experienced chronic bullying also reported increased difficulties in physical activities like walking, running or participating in sports. They also found that those who experienced bullying in the past and were also experiencing bullying in the present showed the lowest health scores.

The study shows the importance of early interventions to stop bullying and to be aware of the need to intervene again, even if the bullying is not ongoing, to address persistent effects.

"I think this is overwhelming support for early interventions and immediate interventions and really advancing the science about interventions," Bogart told Reuters.

Bogart is calling for increased research to better develop and clinically test bullying prevention and intervention methods.

"There's no such thing as a one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to addressing bullying," Bogart said in a statement. "But providing teachers, parents and clinicians with best-practices that are evidence-based could better assist those at the frontlines helping children cope with this serious problem and lessen the damage it causes."