Abstract
ObjectiveThis study aimed to explore body weight factors associated with HRQoL of Iranian adolescents.MethodsA total of 584 adolescents (12–18 years) were included in this cross-sectional study. Participants were selected using a multi-stage sampling method from schools located in Isfahan city in Iran. Body weight, height and waist circumference of adolescents were measured according to standard protocol and body mass index-for-age was determined using Anthroplus software. Adolescents completed a set of self-administered questionnaires which included questions about perceptions of adolescents regarding their body weight status and adolescents’ satisfaction regarding their body weight. To assess HRQoL, adolescents completed the Iranian version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ version 4.0 (PedsQL™ 4.0).ResultsThe mean age of participants was 15.1 ± 1.3 years. The overall prevalence of overweight and obesity were higher in boys compared to girls (34.5 vs. 26.7% respectively). More boys (49.5%) had incorrect perceptions regarding their body weight status compared to girls (37.0%), and more girls (39.0%) were dissatisfied with their body weight compared to boys (28.8%). HRQoL scores were not significantly different among body weight status groups except for significantly lower physical functioning scores in underweight adolescents compared to their counterparts (p = 0.049; power = 64%). Based on perception of body weight status, only boys who perceived themselves as underweight or overweight reported lower scores in different subscales of HRQoL compared to those who perceived themselves as normal weight (p < 0.05; power > 85%). In girls, body weight dissatisfaction was significantly associated with poorer HRQoL in psychosocial dimensions, while in boys, body weight dissatisfaction was significantly associated with poorer HRQoL in physical and social functioning subscales (p < 0.05; power > 85%).ConclusionIn conclusion, impairment in HRQoL mainly depends on adolescents’ perception and dissatisfaction regarding their body weight and less on their actual body weight status. These findings implying that more attention should be paid to body image as an important target for interventions aiming at promoting HRQoL during early years of life.
Highlights
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a fundamental concept which has become a popular area of health research in recent years
According to adolescents’ perceptions regarding their body weight status, one in five of them classified themselves as underweight (21.8%), half of them perceived that they have normal weight and 23.4 and 3.1% of them perceived that they are overweight and obese respectively
Those boys who perceived themselves as overweight had significantly lower scores in physical functioning (p = 0.015), social functioning (p = 0.033) and total HRQoL (p = 0.011) compared to boys who perceived themselves as normal weight
Summary
Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is a fundamental concept which has become a popular area of health research in recent years. HRQoL evaluates the self-perceived health of an individual in three main dimensions of health (physical, mental and social well-being), as delineated by the World Health Organization’s (WHO) definition for Jalali-Farahani et al Health and Quality of Life Outcomes (2019) 17:3 studies in both clinical and community settings reported impairments in different dimensions of HRQoL in adolescents who are overweight and obese compared to their normal weight counterparts [6,7,8]. While adolescent girls desire to be thinner, boys tend to be muscular and heavier and boys are less likely than girls to consider themselves overweight [18,19,20]
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