Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33817347›Full record

ArticleBMJ paediatrics open2021

Psychological health in preschool children with underweight, overweight or obesity: a regional cohort study.

Hilde Mjell Donkor, Helene Toxe, Jørgen Hurum, Robert Bjerknes, Geir Egil Eide, Petur Juliusson, Trond Markestad

Open access · diamondAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in BMJ paediatrics open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
1.6field-weighted citation impact, top 17% of its field
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

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 10 citations in OpenAlex.

  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. Article
  3. 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

7 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.

Hilde Mjell DonkorDepartment of Paediatrics, Sykehuset Innlandet HF Divisjon Lillehammer, Lillehammer, Norway.
Helene ToxeClinic of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Otta, Sykehuset Innlandet HF Psykisk Helsevern, Brumunddal, Norway.
Jørgen HurumDepartment of Paediatrics, Sykehuset Innlandet HF Divisjon Lillehammer, Lillehammer, Norway.
Robert BjerknesDepartment of Clincal Science, Universitetet i Bergen Det Medisinske Fakultet, Bergen, Norway.
Geir Egil EideDepartment of Public Health and Primary Health Care, Universitetet i Bergen Det Medisinske Fakultet, Bergen, Norway.
Petur JuliussonDepartment of Clincal Science, Universitetet i Bergen Det Medisinske Fakultet, Bergen, Norway.
Trond MarkestadDepartment of Clincal Science, Universitetet i Bergen Det Medisinske Fakultet, Bergen, Norway.ORCID 0000-0002-4725-1769
Innlandet Hospital Trust · NOUniversity of Bergen · NOHaukeland University Hospital · NO

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Objective: To examine if underweight (UW), overweight (OW) or obesity (OB), or body mass index (BMI) expressed as its SD score (BMI SDS), were associated with psychological difficulties in preschool children. Design: Regional cohort study. Setting: Oppland County, Norway. Methods: At the routine school entry health assessment at 5-6 years of age, parents were invited to participate by local public health nurses. The parents completed questionnaires on sociodemographic, health and lifestyle factors of the child and the family, and on the child's neurocognitive development. They assessed psychological health with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). Public health nurses measured weight and height on all eligible children and reported age, sex, height and weight anonymously for the children who declined to participate. Participants: We obtained information on 1088 of 1895 (57%) eligible children. The proportion of UW, OW and OB was slightly higher among the children who declined. Main outcome measures: SDQ subscale and Total Difficulties Scores. Results: The mean SDQ scores and proportion of scores ≥the 90th percentile had a curvilinear pattern from UW through normal weight (NW), OW and OB with NW as nadir, but the pattern was only significant for the mean Emotional problems, Peer problems and Total SDQ Scales, and for the Total SDQ Score ≥the 90th percentile (TDS90). After adjusting for relevant social, developmental, health and behavioural characteristics, TDS90 was only significantly associated with UW in multiple logistic regression analyses, and only with the lowest quartile of BMI SDS in a linear spline regression analysis. Conclusions: The study suggests that UW and low BMI, but not OW, OB or higher BMI, are independent risk factors for having psychological symptoms in preschool children.

Indexed as

OverweightThinnessBody Mass IndexChild, PreschoolCohort StudiesHumansObesitychild psychiatryepidemiologygrowthobesitypsychology

Identifiers

PMID33817347
PMCPMC7970241
OpenAlexW3136623279

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.