Is obesity associated with decreased health-related quality of life in school-age children?—Results from a survey in Vietnam

Nguyen Thanh Ha; Do Thi Hanh Trang; Le Thi Thu Ha; Nguyen Thanh Ha; Do Thi Hanh Trang; Le Thi Thu Ha

doi:10.3934/publichealth.2018.4.338

AIMS Public Health

2018, Volume 5, Issue 4: 338-351. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2018.4.338

Previous Article Next Article

Research article

Is obesity associated with decreased health-related quality of life in school-age children?—Results from a survey in Vietnam

Hanoi University of Public health, 1A Duc Thang street, North Tu Liem District, Hanoi, Vietnam

Received: 02 June 2018 Accepted: 16 September 2018 Published: 21 September 2018

Background: Overweight and obesity have short-term and long-term effects on children’s physical and mental health. These conditions currently have a tendency to increase among Vietnamese school children. Aims: This study aimed to assess the quality of life among 8–10 year-old children in Vietnam. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 264 children aged 8–10 years (including 88 obese children and 176 normal-weight ones) at two primary schools in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018 and their mothers or fathers participated in this study. The Vietnamese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 generic score scales were used to collect information from children and their parents about the children’s quality-of-life. Mean and standard deviation of PedsQL scores were calculated. Independent t-test was used to compare mean scores between normal-weight and obese children. Results: Both child self reports and parent-proxy reports revealed that obese children had significantly lower scores for the total scales compared to normal weight children (80.7 versus 84.0; p < 0.05 for proxy reports and 77.6 vs 84.6; p < 0.001 for self reports). Total scale and subscale scores reported by parents were lower compared to those reported by children. Besides, 79% of normal weight children reported having PedsQL total scores in the highest quartile (≥75%), compared to 56.8 % of obese children (p = 0.01). Similarly, these proportions for parent-proxy reports were 79.5% and 65.9%, respectively (p < 0.05). Emotional scores were both found the lowest among the four subscales (71.6 for child self reports and 73.1 for parent-proxy reports). Recommendations: Interventions aimed to improve quality of life of overweight and obese children in Vietnam should not focus only on diet adjustment and physical exercise but need to address all dimensions of health-related quality of life, especially emotional, social and school functioning.
- health-related quality of life,
- obese children,
- PedsQL 4.0
Citation: Nguyen Thanh Ha, Do Thi Hanh Trang, Le Thi Thu Ha. Is obesity associated with decreased health-related quality of life in school-age children?—Results from a survey in Vietnam[J]. AIMS Public Health, 2018, 5(4): 338-351. doi: 10.3934/publichealth.2018.4.338

Related Papers:

Abstract

Background: Overweight and obesity have short-term and long-term effects on children’s physical and mental health. These conditions currently have a tendency to increase among Vietnamese school children. Aims: This study aimed to assess the quality of life among 8–10 year-old children in Vietnam. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted with a sample of 264 children aged 8–10 years (including 88 obese children and 176 normal-weight ones) at two primary schools in Hanoi, Vietnam, in 2018 and their mothers or fathers participated in this study. The Vietnamese version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) 4.0 generic score scales were used to collect information from children and their parents about the children’s quality-of-life. Mean and standard deviation of PedsQL scores were calculated. Independent t-test was used to compare mean scores between normal-weight and obese children. Results: Both child self reports and parent-proxy reports revealed that obese children had significantly lower scores for the total scales compared to normal weight children (80.7 versus 84.0; p < 0.05 for proxy reports and 77.6 vs 84.6; p < 0.001 for self reports). Total scale and subscale scores reported by parents were lower compared to those reported by children. Besides, 79% of normal weight children reported having PedsQL total scores in the highest quartile (≥75%), compared to 56.8 % of obese children (p = 0.01). Similarly, these proportions for parent-proxy reports were 79.5% and 65.9%, respectively (p < 0.05). Emotional scores were both found the lowest among the four subscales (71.6 for child self reports and 73.1 for parent-proxy reports). Recommendations: Interventions aimed to improve quality of life of overweight and obese children in Vietnam should not focus only on diet adjustment and physical exercise but need to address all dimensions of health-related quality of life, especially emotional, social and school functioning.

References

[1]	De OM, Blossner M, Borghi E (2010) Global prevalence and trends of overweight and obesity among preschool children. Am J Clin Nutr 92: 1257–1264. doi: 10.3945/ajcn.2010.29786
[2]	WHO (2016) Obesity and overweight.
[3]	Hoàng DH, Đan TLH (2013) Thực trạng thừa cân, béo phì của học sinh tiêu học trên địa bàn HN năm 2013. Tạp chí y học dự phòng XVX, 48–52.
[4]	Trần TMH, Trần THL, Phạm NO, et al. (2005) Tình trạng dinh dưỡng trẻ em học đường 2002-2004. Tạp chí Y học Thành phố Hồ Chí Minh 10: 208–212.
[5]	Buttitta M, Iliescu C, Rousseau A, et al. (2014) Quality of life in overweight and obese children and adolescents: A literature review. Qual Life Res 23: 1117–1139. doi: 10.1007/s11136-013-0568-5
[6]	Varni JW, Seid M, Rode CA (1999) The PedsQL: Measurement model for the pediatric quality of life inventory. Med Care 37: 126–139. doi: 10.1097/00005650-199902000-00003
[7]	Varni JW (2017) The PedsQL Measurement Model.
[8]	Varni JW, Seid M, Kurtin PS (2001) PedsQL™ 4.0: Reliability and Validity of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory™ Version 4.0 Generic Core Scales in Healthy and Patient Populations. Med Care 39: 800–812.
[9]	Khairy SA, Eid SR, Hadidy LME, et al. (2016) The health-related quality of life in normal and obese children. Egypt Pediatr Assoc Gaz 64: 53–60. doi: 10.1016/j.epag.2016.05.001
[10]	Chan CMS, Wang WC (2013) Quality of life in overweight and obese young Chinese children: A mixed-method study. Health Qual Life Outcomes 11: 33. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-11-33
[11]	Hamaid H, Talib RA, Azizi NH, et al. (2011) Quality of life of obese children in Malaysia. Int J Pediatr Obes 6: 450–454. doi: 10.3109/17477166.2011.590206
[12]	Griffiths LJ, Parsons TJ, Hill AJ (2010) Self-esteem and quality of life in obese children and adolescents: A systematic review. Int J Pediatr Obes 5: 282–304. doi: 10.3109/17477160903473697
[13]	Schwimmer JB, Burwinkle TM, Varni JW (2003) Health-related quality of life of severely obese children and adolescents. JAMA 289: 1813–1819. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.14.1813
[14]	Williams J, Wake M, Hesketh K, et al. (2005) Health-related quality of life of overweight and obese children. JAMA 293: 70–76. doi: 10.1001/jama.293.1.70
[15]	Crabtree VM, Varni JW, Gozal D (2004) Health-related quality of life and depressive symptoms in children with suspected sleep-disordered breathing. Sleep 27: 1131–1138. doi: 10.1093/sleep/27.6.1131
[16]	Kim HS, Park J, Ma Y, et al. (2013) Factors influencing health-related quality of life of overweight and obese children in South Korea. J Sch Nurs 29: 361–369. doi: 10.1177/1059840513475363
[17]	Riazi A, Shakoor S, Dundas I, et al. (2010) Health-related quality of life in a clinical sample of obese children and adolescents. Health Qual Life Outcomes 8: 134. doi: 10.1186/1477-7525-8-134
[18]	Varni JW (2018) Scaling and scoring of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory.
[19]	Eman AA, Rasha TH, Azza MY, et al. (2014) Health related quality of life and psychological problems in Egyptian children with simple obesity in relation to body mass index. Egypt J Med Hum Genet 15: 149–154. doi: 10.1016/j.ejmhg.2014.01.002
[20]	Zeller HM, Modi AC (2006) Predictors of Health-Related Quality of Life in Obese Youth. Obesity 14: 122–130. doi: 10.1038/oby.2006.15
[21]	Summerbell CD, Moore HJ, Vögele C, et al. (2012) Evidence‐based recommendations for the development of obesity prevention programs targeted at preschool children. Obes Rev 13: 129–132. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2011.00940.x
[22]	Katz DA, McHorney CA, Atkinson RL (2000) Impact of obesity on health-related quality of life in patients with chronic illness. J Gen Int Med 15: 789–796. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2000.90906.x
[23]	House of Commons Health Committee (2004) Obesity. London: House of Common London.
[24]	Hughes AR, Farewell K, Harris D, et al. (2007) Quality of life in a clinical sample of obese children. Int J Obes 31: 39–44. doi: 10.1038/sj.ijo.0803410
[25]	Sjöberg A, Moraeus L, Yngve A, et al. (2011) Overweight and obesity in a representative sample of schoolchildren-exploring the urban-rural gradient in Sweden. Obes Rev 12: 305–314. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-789X.2010.00838.x
[26]	Farahani SJ, Chin YS, Amiri P, et al. (2014) Body mass index (BMI)-for-age and health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among high school students in Tehran. Child Care Health Dev 40: 731–739. doi: 10.1111/cch.12103
[27]	Helseth S, Haraldstad K, Christophersen KA (2015) A cross-sectional study of health related quality of life and body mass index in a Norwegian school sample (8–18 years): A comparison of child and parent perspectives. Health Qual Life Outcomes 13: 1–10. doi: 10.1186/s12955-014-0204-2

Reader Comments

Your name:*

Email:*
© 2018 the Author(s), licensee AIMS Press. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0)