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Assessment of Child Anthropometry in a Large Epidemiologic Study
Published on: February 2, 2017
Day-to-day physical functioning and disability in obese 10- to 13-year-olds
M D Tsiros1, J D Buckley, P R C Howe
1Nutritional Physiology Research Centre, School of Health Sciences, Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, Adelaide, SA, Australia.
Insights
Childhood obesity impairs physical health-related quality of life and basic locomotor skills. However, participation in key life areas appears largely unaffected by obesity in children.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric health
- Obesity research
- Disability studies
Background:
- Children with obesity often experience poorer physical health-related quality of life and reduced physical activity compared to healthy-weight peers.
- Obesity is linked to difficulties in performing weight-bearing tasks and reduced physical fitness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the relationship between childhood obesity and impairments in daily physical functioning and disability.
- To utilize the International Classification for Functioning, Disability and Health framework for Children and Youth (ICF-CY) for a comprehensive assessment.
Main Methods:
- An observational case-control study involving 107 obese and 132 healthy-weight children aged 10-13 years across three Australian states.
- Assessed body composition, locomotor capacity (6-minute walk test, timed up and down stairs, timed up and go), physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL), and daily activity patterns via accelerometry and interviews.
Main Results:
- Obese children demonstrated significantly lower physical HRQoL scores and reduced locomotor capacity compared to healthy-weight children.
- Higher body fat percentage correlated with lower physical HRQoL, slower performance in mobility tests, and reduced community participation.
- Obesity was associated with impairments in basic locomotor skills and physical health-related quality of life.
Conclusions:
- Obesity in children negatively impacts physical functioning, particularly basic locomotor skills and physical health-related quality of life.
- Unexpectedly, children's participation in key life areas related to physical functioning was minimally impacted by obesity.
- Findings highlight the complex relationship between obesity, disability, and daily functioning in pediatric populations.
Unlabelled:
What is already known about this subject? Compared with their healthy-weight peers, children with obesity have; impaired physical health-related quality of life reduced physical activity levels reduced capacity to perform certain weight-bearing tasks in field-based fitness tests What this study adds? First investigation of obesity-related disability in children using the International Classification for Functioning, Disability and Health framework for Children and Youth. Obesity in children appears to be associated with disability impacting basic locomotor skills and physical health-related quality of life. Children's participation in key life areas related to physical functioning appears to be minimally impacted by obesity.
Objective:
The aim of this study was to investigate whether obesity is related to impaired day-to-day physical functioning and disability in children.
Methods:
An observational case-control study was conducted in three Australian states. Obese (n = 107) and healthy-weight (n = 132) 10- to 13-year-olds (132 male, 107 female) were recruited via media advertisements. Assessment of body composition (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry), locomotor capacity (six-minute walk test [6MWT], timed up and down stairs test [TUDS] and timed up and go [TUG]) and child-reported physical health-related quality of life (HRQoL) were undertaken. Participants wore an accelerometer for 8 days and completed two use-of-time telephone interviews to assess participation in key life areas.
Results:
Compared with their healthy-weight counterparts, obese children had lower physical HRQoL scores (P < 0.01) and reduced locomotor capacity (TUDS z-score, TUG and 6MWT; P < 0.01). Higher percent body fat was significantly related to lower physical HRQoL scores (r = -0.48, P < 0.01), slower performance times for the TUDS and TUG (r = 0.59 and 0.26 respectively, P < 0.01), shorter 6MWT distances (r = -0.51, P < 0.01) and reduced time spent in community participation activities (r = -0.23, P < 0.01).
Conclusions:
As anticipated, obesity appears to undermine physical functioning in children, including the capacity to perform basic locomotor skills yet, unexpectedly, participation in key life areas related to physical functioning appeared largely unaffected.
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