Endocrine Abstracts

Background: Nearly a third of children aged 2–15 are overweight or obese (body mass index at or above 95th percentile) and children are becoming ‘obese’ at earlier ages and staying obese for longer. Obesity is linked to an array of medical conditions including hypertension, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and musculoskeletal pain and is associated with poor health-related quality of life (HRQoL) overall. Yet there is limited information on the relationship between obesity and different dimensions of HRQoL. The Complications from Excess Weight Service (CEW) aims to holistically treat complications that are associated with excess weight in children aged 2–17.

Aims: To describe and evaluate the HRQoL and mobility of young people accessing a CEW service and offer recommendations for clinical interventions and further service development.

Method: A patient survey completed by both patients and parents gathered information about HRQoL across multiple domains. Additionally, 2-minute walking test data, body mass index (BMI), patient demographics, and time spent in the CEW service were also analysed.

Results: Social functioning showed the biggest HRQoL impairment across all ages of young people surveyed (−41.77 and −41.79, P<0.001). A change in HRQoL was independent of an improvement in BMI (P<0.05). Impaired HRQoL was associated with increasing age and a higher body mass index percentile (BMI–SDS) (P<0.05). Parent reports showed more emotional functioning difficulties when compared to self-reports which indicated more social functioning difficulties. Weight-related stigma was universally prevalent across all the young people surveyed with name-calling (68.75%), comments about size (62.5%) and shopping for clothes (56.25%) most frequently reported. Impaired mobility had a greater association with increasing age (r=−0.515, P=0.001) and a higher BMI–SDS (r=−0.438, P=0.007).

Discussion: The evaluation highlighted that children with excess weight need focused interventions to improve social functioning, and tackle self-esteem and bullying-related concerns in addition to weight management strategies. Differences in scoring in specific areas of HRQoL between parents and young people must be factored in when addressing concerns, to ensure successful whole-family approaches in setting treatment goals. Assessments and interventions to support mobility, particularly in older children and those with higher BMI are essential.