Health-related quality of life of obese children

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the health-related quality of life of obese children. METHODS: This is a descriptive and cross-sectional study. The sample consisted of 131 children, aged 8 and 12 years, 50 obese children (study group) and 81 with normal weight (control group). All children underwent anthropometric assessment (weight and height) to obtain the body mass index. The criterion of the NCHS-CDC was used to determine nutritional status. Quality of life was assessed by the PedsQL-generic version for children, validated for the Brazilian population. We used descriptive statistics, the U test, the Mann Whitney and unpaired Student t tests, with a significance level of p < 0.05. RESULTS: The group of obese children had a lower quality of life in all four areas when compared to normal children, with a significant difference in the physical, emotional, social, psychosocial and overall quality of life. From a total of 100 points, the median of overall quality of life of obese children was 69.9 while that of normal weight was 82.2. CONCLUSIONS: Obese children had a poorer quality of life related to health when compared to normal children, which should be taken into account when planning for control of obesity.