Health-related quality of life in obese children and adolescents

• Published in: International Journal of Obesity 2002-08, Vol.26, p.123-123
• Main Authors: Warschburger, P, Fromme, C, Petermann, F
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 0307-0565

Background. It is well known that obesity causes psychological distress. Children and adolescents with obesity describe their well-being as very low in comparison to children with other chronic conditions. The objectives of the study were to assess the self-reported health-related quality of life and anxiety levels of obese and extremely obese children and test the reliability and validity of a self-constructed disease-specific questionnaire. Method. 1000 schoolchildren between 9 and 16 years of age, 200 obese children and 40 extremely obese children completed both the self-constructed disease-specific questionnaire and questions taken from subscales of the CHQ during an inpatient stay. Children were determined extremely obese when their BMI was greater than the 99% percentile. The results of the disease-specific questionnaire were compared to the results of the generic questionnaire. Results. The self-reported quality of life scores in the clinical sample were significantly lower than those in the sample of schoolchildren. Extremely obese children reported a lower quality of life than obese children. No differences were reported in self-reported anxiety scores. Differences between the generic and disease-specific quality of life were observed. Discussion. Obese children and adolescents experience a restriction in their health-related quality of life. This observation is more profound when disease-specific measures are used. Treatment interventions should therefore include a psychosocial component. Outcome measures need to consider quality of life.