The Relationship between Weight Status, Health-Related Quality of Life, and Life Satisfaction in a Sample of Spanish Adolescents
Open accessAbstract
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).
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Overweight and underweight adolescents have an increased risk of psychological problems and reduced quality of life.
“Overweight and underweight adolescents have an increased risk of psychological problems and reduced quality of life.”
From Psychopathological symptoms and well-being in overweight and underweight adolescents: A network analysis (2021) · cites this paper as [10]
The Discussion states that neither the overweight nor the underweight group differed significantly from normal-weight adolescents in health-related quality of life or life satisfaction; it identifies obesity as the group with poorer outcomes. The Results (§3.3) confirm that only the obesity–normal-weight comparisons were significant. The paper discusses psychosocial risks associated with higher BMI, but does not establish the claimed increased risk for underweight adolescents. (LLM, conf=0.88)
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- Authors
- Baile, J. I., Guevara, R. M., González-Calderón, M. J., & Urchaga, J. D.
- Affiliations
- Faculty of Health Sciences and Education, Madrid Open University, La Coruña Highway, km 38.500, Collado Villalba, 28400 Madrid, Spain
- Faculty of Education, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Street Henry Collet, 52-70, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
- Faculty of Comunication, Pontifical University of Salamanca, Street Henry Collet, 52-70, 37007 Salamanca, Spain
- Venue
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
- Publisher
- MDPI AG
- Published
- 2020-04-29
- Volume
- 17
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 3106
- ISSN
- 1660-4601 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7246779
- OpenAlex
- W3022010129
- Cited by
- 28
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 3.18
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- dx.doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- LA Referencia (Red Federada de Repositorios Institucionales de Publicaciones Científicas) (submittedVersion, cc-by-nc-nd)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Obesity, Physical Activity, Diet
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Eating Disorders and Behaviors
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Obesity and Health Practices
- Keywords
- adolescent obesity, overweight, body mass index, health-related quality of life, life satisfaction, gender differences, adolescents, psychosocial problems, Spanish adolescents
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Body Weight, Child, Cross-Sectional Studies, Female, Health Status, Humans, Male, Personal Satisfaction, Quality of Life, Surveys and Questionnaires, Spain, Body Mass Index, Overweight, Pediatric Obesity
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