Relationship between obesity and health-related quality of life in children aged 7-8 years.

BACKGROUND: The dramatic increase in the prevalence of obesity in developed and developing countries has become a major health care concern. Accordingly, there is growing recognition of the relationship between health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and obesity in the pediatric population. This study aimed to explore the relationship between HRQOL and different indicators of obesity in children aged 7-8 years. METHOD: In total, 182 children participated in this study (mean age 7.71 (0.29) years, 48.91% girls). To assess obesity, an InBody 230 analyzer was used to calculate body mass index (BMI) and body fat percentage (BFP). The proxy version of the KIDSCREEN-27 questionnaire was used to assess HRQOL. RESULTS: Among boys, 17.2% were overweight and 4.3% were obese according to BMI, while in terms of body fat percentage (BFP), the corresponding percentages were 12.9 and 9.7%, respectively. Among girls, the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 11.2 and 9.0% by BMI and 10.1 and 7.9% in terms of BFP, respectively. The analysis of BFP showed a significantly higher score in normal weight boys than in obese boys in the Social Support & Peers domains (KW H-test = 10.472, p = 0.03), while in girls, there were no significant differences between weight categories and any HRQOL dimensions. CONCLUSION: Obesity at 7-8 years of age could negatively affect some HRQOL domains; in particular, obese boys may have low social support and peer functioning.

Morphological examination of young adults related to obesity / Examen morfológico de adultos jóvenes relacionado con la obesidad

SUMMARY: This study presents a cross-board comparison of the morphological characteristic of students of the Hungarian Language teacher training faculty in Subotica, Serbia based on their nutritional status estimate of their nourishment state. The sample was composed by 146 young adults from all four study years of the faculty, ranging from age 19 to 23. The following anthropometric measurements were carried out: body weight, height, skin fold thickness (skin folds measured at the scapula, triceps, biceps, ilium, hip, thigh and abdomen) and circumferences (waist, hip). The authors calculated and analyzed the data, including: the BMI (body mass index) with the formula, skin fold thickness and with 4-Site Skin fold Equation and waist hip ratio. Descriptive statistic was used to describe the morphological characteristics. Independent T-test and ANOVA analysis was performed to compare the students according to sex and age. The main results of the present study are: (1) no significant difference is found between the age groups in the case of either height or body weight, not for the young men or the young women in the study; (2) the differences between height and weight in the case of the male and female as characteristic for this age group can be observed; (3) the female students are more often found to be overweight or obese than the male students; (4) the majority of participant students can be classified into the normal nutritional status' category, which holds true for both the young men and women of the study; (5) the fat percentages calculated based on skin fold values show that in terms of weight, the majority of the female students fall under the 'acceptable' category, while the majority of the young men are classed as 'thin'; (6) in the case of abdominal overweight 20.0 % of men and 19.48 % of women belong to the category 'obese'. This information about the students of the teacher training program is vital, as these young men and women will play an important role as future teachers and thereby, as role models helping to prevent childhood obesity and guiding children throughout their education towards a healthy life style.

RESUMEN: Este estudio presenta una comparación transversal de la característica morfológica de estudiantes de lengua húngara pertenecientes a la Facultad de Formación de Docentes en Subotica, Serbia, en función de su estado nutricional estimado con el estado de alimentación. La muestra estuvo compuesta por 146 adultos jóvenes, cursando los cuatro años en la Facultad, con edades comprendidas entre los 19 y los 23 años. Se realizaron las siguientes mediciones antropométricas: peso corporal, altura, grosor de la piel (pliegues cutáneos medidos en la escápula, tríceps, bíceps, ilion, cadera, muslo y abdomen) y circunferencias (cintura, cadera). Los autores calcularon y analizaron los datos, incluidos: el IMC (índice de masa corporal) con la fórmula, el grosor del pliegue cutáneo y con la ecuación del pliegue cutáneo de 4 sitios y la relación cintura-cadera. La estadística descriptiva se usó para describir las características morfológicas. Se realizaron análisis independientes de T-test y ANOVA para comparar los estudiantes de acuerdo al sexo y la edad. Los principales resultados del presente estudio son: (1) no se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los grupos de edad en el caso de la altura o el peso corporal, para los hombres jóvenes o las mujeres jóvenes; (2) se pudieron observar diferencias entre la altura y el peso en el caso del hombre y la mujer como características para este grupo etario; (3) las estudiantes, tienen con mayor frecuencia sobrepeso u obesidad, en relación a los estudiantes varones; (4) la mayoría de los estudiantes participantes pueden clasificarse en la categoría de un estado nutricional normal, lo cual es válido tanto para los hombres como para las mujeres jóvenes del estudio; (5) los porcentajes de grasa calculados basados en los valores del pliegue de la piel muestran que, en términos de peso, la mayoría de las alumnas se clasifican en la categoría "aceptable", mientras que la mayoría de los hombres jóvenes se clasifican como "delgados"; (6) en el caso del sobrepeso abdominal, el 20,0 % de los hombres y el 19,48 % de las mujeres pertenecen a la categoría 'obeso'. Esta información de los alumnos de la Facultad es vital, ya que estos jóvenes desempeñarán un papel importante como futuros docentes y como un modelo de conducta, ayudando de esta forma, a evitar la obesidad infantil y guiando a los niños a lo largo de su educación hacia un estilo de vida saludable.