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Sex Differences in the Association of Youth Body Mass Index to Adult Health-related Quality of Life: The Physical Activity Longitudinal Study

  • Quantitative Research
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Canadian Journal of Public Health Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Objective

The long-term consequences of youth overweight on adult health-related quality of life (HRQL) have not been documented. This study examines sex differences in the association between youth body mass index (BMI) and adult HRQL.

Methods

Subjects included 139 male and 142 female participants aged 7–18 in the 1981 Canada Fitness Survey, followed up in 2002–04. The associations of youth BMI to adult HRQL (SF-36) were examined with bivariate correlations, differences in means and multivariate linear regression analyses.

Results

Bivariate analyses revealed positive associations between youth overweight and mental aspects of adult HRQL in females, and weak negative associations with physical aspects, but no significant associations in males. All overweight male and female youth scored the maximum (100) on Role Emotional (RE). In females, compared to healthy weight youth, overweight youth scored 16.0, 13.4, 12.7, and 10.9 points higher on general health (GH), vitality (VT), mental health (MH), and the mental component score (MCS) in adulthood, respectively; a 1 unit increase in youth BMI led to 1.7, 1.5, and 1.4 point increases in adult VT, MH and MCS scores, respectively. Associations were attenuated with the removal of adult BMI from the models, but remained strong for MH and MCS.

Conclusions

Overweight in youth did not have a significant negative impact on HRQL two decades later; rather, a positive association was found with mental aspects of adult HRQL in females.

Résumé

Objectifs

Les conséquences à long terme du surpoids durant l’enfance sur la qualité de vie liée à la santé (QVLS) à l’âge adulte n’ont pas été étudiées. Nous examinons ici l’écart entre les sexes dans l’association entre l’indice de masse corporelle (IMC) durant l’enfance et la QVLS à l’âge adulte.

Méthode

Nos sujets étaient 139 garçons et 142 filles de 7 à 18 ans ayant participé à l’Enquête condition physique Canada en 1981 et fait l’objet de suivis en 2002–2004. Nous avons étudié les associations entre l’IMC durant l’enfance et la QVLS à l’âge adulte (selon le questionnaire SF-36) à l’aide de corrélations bivariées, de différences dans les moyennes et de régressions linéaires multivariées.

Résultats

Les analyses bivariées ont mis au jour des associations positives entre le surpoids durant l’enfance et les aspects mentaux de la QVLS à l’âge adulte chez les femmes, ainsi que de faibles associations négatives avec les aspects physiques, mais aucune association significative chez les hommes. Tous les enfants en surpoids, garçons et filles, ont obtenu le score maximal (100) à l’égard des « limitations du rôle liées à la santé mentale » (RE). Chez les filles, comparativement aux enfants ayant un poids-santé, les enfants en surpoids ont obtenu 16,0, 13,4, 12,7 et 10,9 points de plus, respectivement, pour la santé générale (GH), la vitalité (VT), la santé mentale (MH) et le score mental (MCS) à l’âge adulte; une augmentation d’1 unité dans l’IMC durant l’enfance correspondait à des augmentations de 1,7, 1,5 et 1,4 points dans les indices VT, MH et MCS à l’âge adulte, respectivement. Ces associations étaient atténuées lorsqu’on retirait des modèles l’IMC à l’âge adulte, mais elle demeurait forte pour la santé mentale et le score mental.

Conclusion

Nous n’avons pas observé d’incidence négative significative du surpoids durant l’enfance sur la QVLS 20 ans plus tard; au lieu de cela, nous avons observé une association positive avec les aspects mentaux de la QVLS à l’âge adulte chez les filles.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Kinesiology & Health Studies, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, K7L 3N6, Canada

    Katya M. Herman PhD

  2. Clinical Research Centre, Kingston General Hospital, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Wilma M. Hopman MA

  3. Department of Community Health and Epidemiology, Queen’s University, Kingston, ON, Canada

    Wilma M. Hopman MA

  4. Canadian Fitness & Lifestyle Research Institute, Ottawa, ON, Canada

    Cora L. Craig MSc

  5. School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia

    Cora L. Craig MSc

Authors
  1. Katya M. Herman PhD
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  2. Wilma M. Hopman MA
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  3. Cora L. Craig MSc
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katya M. Herman PhD.

Additional information

Acknowledgements: K.M. Herman was supported by a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Doctoral Research Award. PALS was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (Strategic Joint Initiative Grant on Society, Culture and the Health of Canadians II Grant No. 839.2000-1032; C.L. Craig, L. Gauvin). The 1981 CFS was supported by Fitness and Amateur Sport (now the Healthy Living Program of the Public Health Agency of Canada). The authors thank Peter Katzmarzyk for his contribution to the conceptualization of the paper and direction provided during early stages of this work.

Conflict of Interest: None to declare.

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Herman, K.M., Hopman, W.M. & Craig, C.L. Sex Differences in the Association of Youth Body Mass Index to Adult Health-related Quality of Life: The Physical Activity Longitudinal Study. Can J Public Health 102, 42–46 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404875

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03404875

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