The relationship between weight status, health-related quality of life, and life satisfaction in a sample of Spanish adolescents

Abstract

Excess weight has been associated with numerous psychosocial problems and is considered to be one of the most important health problems of today. The aim of this study is to analyze the relationship between weight status, which is evaluated by means of the body mass index (BMI), and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and life satisfaction (LS) variables in Spanish adolescents, as well as to examine whether gender influences this interrelationship. A total of 1197 subjects studying in their 1st and 4th years of high school (mean age: 14.4 years, SD: 1.69) participated in the study by completing the Health Behavior in School-Aged Children (HBSC) questionnaire. Then, the participants were grouped into the following categories: Underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. The results show that boys have significantly higher HRQoL as well as higher levels of LS. On the other hand, only the obese group shows significantly lower scores in both HRQoL and LS than those in the normal-weight group. The interaction of weight category and gender does not have a significant impact on the variables that have been analyzed (HRQoL or LS).