Weight Status, Physical Fitness, and Health-Related Quality of Life among Chinese Adolescents: A Cross-Sectional Study.

Xiangren Yi,You Fu,Meng Ding,Ryan Burns

doi:10.3390/ijerph16132271

Abstract

Purpose: The impact of physical fitness (PF) on adolescents’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL) is an important health issue in China. The purpose of this study was to identify whether body mass index (BMI), cardiorespiratory fitness (CRF), and musculoskeletal fitness (MSF) influences HRQOL among Chinese adolescents. Method: The participants were 10,007 students (boys = 5276, 14.14 years ± 1.79; girls = 4829, 14.22 years ± 1.81) who were randomly selected from 30 secondary schools in Shandong, China. BMI, CRF, MSF, and HRQOL were measured and analyzed using ANCOVA and multiple regression. Results: BMI and physical fitness variables were partially associated with HRQOL in Chinese adolescents. ANCOVA showed a significant difference among BMI categories in terms of physical sense (PS), living convenience, and self-satisfaction (SS) for boys, but this difference was only seen with social activity opportunity (SAO) for girls. Multiple regression found that BMI was significantly associated with SAO. For boys, CRF was associated with the teacher and student relationship and SS, whereas MSF was only associated with PS. For girls, CRF was significantly linked with the parent and children relationship, learning capacity, and attitudes and self-perception (S-P), while MSF was associated with S-P. Conclusion: Enforcing physical activity and enhancing PF will be a crucial pathway in improving adolescents’ HRQOL in China.

Highlights

The high prevalence of overweightness and obesity among children and adolescents has been a large public health concern for the past three decades in China
Most of the items for each of the dimensions of QLSCA are similar between genders, except for self perception, social activity opportunity, sport capacity, and mean score, which are higher among boys
This study provides an initial approach using the Chinese version of QLSCA to examine the influences of physical fitness and body mass index (BMI) on Chinese adolescents’ health-related quality of life (HRQOL)

Summary

Introduction

The high prevalence of overweightness and obesity among children and adolescents has been a large public health concern for the past three decades in China. Fitness and Health in 2010 reported that the obesity rate of urban boys, urban girls, countryside boys, and countryside girls (7–22 years) were 13.33%, 5.64%, 7.83%, and 3.78% respectively. The overweight rate of urban boys, urban girls, countryside boys, and countryside girls (7–22 years) were 14.81%, 9.92%, 10.79%, and 8.03%, respectively, which have increased by 1.94%, 0.63%, 2.76%, and 1.15%, respectively, since 2005 [1]. Chinese children and adolescents, increasing by 5.1% and 4.3%, respectively, since 2002 [2]. China’s prevalence of overweightness and obesity is relatively low, but this has progressively increased over the past decades. Public Health 2019, 16, 2271; doi:10.3390/ijerph16132271 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph

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