Details:

Alternative Title:
Qual Life Res
Publisher's site:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11136-014-0646-3
Personal Author:
Cui, Wanjun ; Zack, Matthew M. ; Wethington, Holly
Cui, Wanjun ; Zack, Matthew M. ; Wethington, Holly Less -
Description:
Purpose

To examine the magnitude of differences in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) by body mass index (BMI) in a population-based sample of United States adolescents overall and by sex, and to provide national prevalence estimates of reported HRQOL outcomes for not only obese and overweight but also underweight adolescents.

Methods

From the 2001 through 2010 cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, we estimated the percentages of four HRQOL outcomes—self-rated health, physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and activity limitation days—in four BMI categories—obese, overweight, normal weight, and underweight—of approximately 6,000 US adolescents aged 12–17 years. We also estimated the percentages for boys and girls separately.

Results

Substantial gaps in self-rated health exist between normal-weight adolescents and those who are obese and overweight, but not underweight. Eighteen percent (95 % CI 15–22) of obese adolescents reported fair or poor health compared to only 5 % (95 % CI 4–7) of normal-weight adolescents. Thirty-seven percent (95 % CI 33–42) of obese adolescents reported excellent or very good health, compared to 65 % (94 % CI 63–67) of normal-weight adolescents. However, all BMI groups reported similar percentages of physically unhealthy days, mentally unhealthy days, and activity limitation days. The associations between HRQOL and BMI groups did not vary by sex. Boys generally reported significantly better self-rated health and mental health than girls. Specifically, obese boys reported better self-rated health, mental health, and fewer activity limitation days than obese girls.

Conclusions

Substantially, significant differences in some domains of HRQOL are found between above normal-weight and normal-weight US adolescents. This relationship between BMI and HRQOL is robust and observed among both boys and girls.


Subject:
[+]
Adolescent
Body Mass Index
Child
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Health Status
Health Status Indicators
Humans
Logistic Models
Male
Mental Health
Nutrition Surveys
Quality Of Life
Self Report
Thinness

Source:
Qual Life Res. 23(7):2139-2150.
Pubmed ID:
24526296
Pubmed Central ID:
PMC4600603
Document Type:
Journal Article
Funding:
CC999999/Intramural CDC HHS/United States
Name as Subject:
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (U.S.)
Place as Subject:
United States
Collection(s):
CDC Public Access
Main Document Checksum:
[+]
urn:sha256:0842adbb23b6f3bd95f5ae52fee87e2bf2fdbea2f69fdc7c920580a0fab6c47b
File Type:

Supporting Files

• nihms724561.nxml

  bin

More +