Abstract
BackgroundThe well-being of persons with overweight and obesity, in particular of children and adolescents, may be impaired. The present study investigates the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of girls and boys with overweight and obesity living in Germany as compared to those of normal-weight, while taking a selection of relevant determinants of HRQoL into account.MethodsThe sample comprises 1771 children and adolescents aged 11 to 17 years that took part in the cross-sectional German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents (KIGGS Wave 2, 2014–2017). Sex-and age-specific BMI (kg/m2) percentiles were utilized to classify overweight and obesity. HRQoL was measured with the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire, which gathers detailed information about the five dimensions physical and psychological well-being, well-being regarding peers (i.e., social acceptance), parents (i.e., autonomy) and within the school environment. Multiple regression analyses were performed with HRQoL dimensions as outcomes to test for differences between children and adolescents with normal-weight vs. those with overweight and vs. those with obesity, separately for girls and boys. In a next step, age, physical activity, media consumption, social support and self-efficacy were considered as potential confounders in the analyses.Results18.7% of the children and adolescents under study were affected by overweight and among them 8.0% by obesity. After adjusting for potential confounders, overweight and obesity were associated with lower physical well-being as compared to normal weight in both sexes (boys with overweight: standardized beta [β] = −.14, standard error [SE] = .03, p < .001, and obesity: β = −.16, SE = .03, p < .001; girls with overweight: β = −.09, SE = .04, p = .011, and obesity: β = −.11, SE = .03, p = .003). Results moreover suggest lower levels of psychological (β = −.10, SE = .04, p = .002) and parent-related well-being (β = −.08, SE = .04, p = .036) of boys with obesity as compared to normal-weight peers.ConclusionHRQoL of German children and adolescents with overweight and obesity is impaired according to physical well-being in general, while psychological and parent-related well-being is particularly affected in boys. Public health approaches should therefore promote children and adolescents with overweight and obesity by improving diverse facets of HRQoL as well as relevant associated factors (i.e., media consumption, self-efficacy) in general and in boys in particular.
Highlights
The well-being of persons with overweight and obesity, in particular of children and adolescents, may be impaired
German child and adolescent health-related quality of life (HRQoL) dimensions correspond to European norm values or are even better
Taken together, the HRQoL of German children and adolescents with overweight or obesity is affected according to physical well-being in general and concerning psychological as well as parent-related well-being in boys
Summary
The well-being of persons with overweight and obesity, in particular of children and adolescents, may be impaired. Previous findings indicate a relatively high risk of persistence with more than half of the children with overweight and obesity being affected by overweight or obesity in adolescence and with a five-fold higher risk even in adulthood [4, 5]. This is important considering the individual and social consequences and accompanying symptoms of persistent overweight and obesity. As the multidimensional construct of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) covers multiple aspects of health, it allows assessing a comprehensive burden of certain health conditions [12]
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