Quality of life and sleep in obese adolescents

Obesity and sleep disorders in adolescence are strongly associated, and they impact both on the health and on quality of life (QL) in this age group. Objective: To comparatively assess QL and sleep in obese and eutrophic adolescents, who are older than ten years of age. Methods: Cross-sectional study including obese adolescents. This analysis was carried out between August 2009 and August 2010. The Control (eutrophic) Group comprised schoolchildren recruited from State schools in the city of Americana, in Sao Paulo State, Brazil. Instruments applied included a standardized questionnaire, the Sleep Behavior Questionnaire (SBQ), and the Pediatric QL Inventory (PedsQL (TM) 4.0). Results: The obese adolescents had poorer QL on physical (p<0.001), emotional (p=0.03), and social (p=0.002) functioning domains. A difference in mean psychosocial functioning was found between the groups (p=0.009) with obese subjects having a mean score of 69.5 (+/- 16.0) and in eutrophic individuals of 76.2 (+/- 16.7). A greater number of sleep problems was evident in the Obese Group (p=0.03). Conclusions: The obese adolescents had an impaired QL and a higher frequency of sleep problems compared to the eutrophic subjects.