Evidence map›Paper›PMID 24232500›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of obesity (2005)2014

Relationship between overweight and health-related quality of life in secondary school children in Fiji: results from a cross-sectional population-based study.

S Petersen, M Moodie, H Mavoa, G Waqa, R Goundar, B Swinburn

Abstract read
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of obesity (2005), 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
18citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

18 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. The Association Between Affect and Adiposity in Childhood and Adolescence: A Systematic Review.Obesity reviews : an official journal of the International Association for the Study of Obesity · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Effect of multidisciplinary interventions on quality of life in obese children: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2015
    Pooled it
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Determinants of Quality of Life among Adolescents in the Małopolska Region, Poland.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Article
  6. Article
  7. Article
  8. Article
  9. Article
  10. Article
  11. Review
  12. Human development index, children's health-related quality of life and movement behaviors: a compositional data analysis.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2018
    Article
  13. Observational
  14. Article
  15. Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

S Petersen1] Deakin Health Economics, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [2] WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [3] Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Clinical Sciences, Umeå University, Umeå, Sweden.
M Moodie1] Deakin Health Economics, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [2] WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
H MavoaWHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia.
G WaqaPacific Research Centre for the Prevention of Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (C-POND), Fiji School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji.
R GoundarPacific Research Centre for the Prevention of Obesity and Non-Communicable Diseases (C-POND), Fiji School of Medicine, College of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences, Fiji National University, Suva, Fiji.
B Swinburn1] WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia [2] School of Population Health, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand.

Funding

Wellcome Trust
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo investigate the relationship between excess weight (overweight and obesity) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in a sample of secondary school children in Fiji, by gender, age and ethnicity.

methodsThe study comprised 8947 children from forms 3-6 (age 12-18 years) in 18 secondary schools on Viti Levu, the main island of Fiji. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated from measured height and weight, and weight status was classified according to the International Obesity Task Force recommendations. HRQoL was measured by the self-report version of the Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory 4.0.

resultsHRQoL was similar in children with obesity and normal weight. Generally, this was replicated when analyzed separately by gender and ethnicity, but age stratification revealed disparities. In 12-14-year-old children, obesity was associated with better HRQoL, owing to better social and school functioning and well-being, and in 15-18-year olds with poorer HRQoL, owing to worse physical, emotional and social functioning and well-being (Cohen's d 0.2-0.3). Children with a BMI in the overweight range also reported a slightly lower HRQoL than children with a BMI in the normal weight range, but although statistically significant, the size of this difference was trivial (Cohen's d <0.2). DISCUSSION: The results suggest that, overall there is no meaningful negative association between excess weight and HRQoL in secondary school children in Fiji. This is in contradiction to the negative relationship between excess weight and HRQoL shown in studies from other countries and cultures. The assumption that a large body size is associated with a lower quality of life cannot be held universally. Although a generally low HRQoL among children in Fiji may be masking or overriding the potential effect of excess weight on HRQoL, socio-economic and/or socio-cultural factors, may help to explain these relationships.

Indexed as

Quality of LifeAdolescentAdolescent BehaviorBody CompositionBody Mass IndexChildCross-Sectional StudiesCultural CharacteristicsFemaleFijiHealth StatusHumansMaleOverweightPhysical FitnessSchools

Identifiers

PMID24232500

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.