Health-related Quality of Life in Children Under Treatment for Overweight, Obesity or Severe Obesity: a Cross-sectional Study in the Netherlands

Background: It is unknown whether weight class is associated with impairment of health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for children in the Netherlands. The aim of this study was to explore generic and weight-specific HRQOL in a clinical cohort of children with overweight, obesity or severe obesity aged 5-19 years in the Netherlands.

Methods: 803 children from three clinical cohorts participated: mean age 11.5 (SD 2.9) years, 61.1% girls. The influence of weight class was explored in a subgroup of 425 children (25.2% with overweight, 32.5% obesity and 42.3% severe obesity), of whom the exact International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) BMI class was known. Generic HRQOL was measured by the PedsQL child report. Weight-specific HRQOL was measured by the IWQOL-Kids child or parent report. Average total, subscale and item scores were reported and the influence of the IOTF BMI class analyzed by multiple linear regression, corrected for age and sex.

Results: Children with severe obesity had lower generic and weight-specific HRQOL scores than those with obesity or overweight. IOTF BMI class was negatively associated with item scores from all subscales, especially physical, social and emotional functioning. Children with overweight reported similar HRQOL total, subscale and item scores to children with obesity.

Conclusions: In the Netherlands, children treated for overweight, obesity or severe obesity experience problems on the majority of items within all subscales of generic and weight-specific HRQOL. Children with severe obesity especially report significantly more challenges due to their weight than children with obesity or overweight.