Despair Acute for Obese Children, Study Finds

A study has found a startling level of despair among obese children, with many rating their quality of life as low as that of young cancer patients on chemotherapy.

The research published in today’s edition of the Journal of the American Medical Assn. offers a sobering glimpse of what life is like for many obese youngsters nationwide. They are teased about their size, have trouble playing sports and suffer physical ailments linked to their weight.

The study was published in an edition of the journal devoted to obesity research. It also comes amid growing concern about the nation’s obesity epidemic and recent data suggesting that 15% of U.S. youngsters are severely overweight or obese.

Obesity researcher Kelly Brownell, who runs a Yale University weight disorders center, said the increasing prevalence of obesity hasn’t made it any less stigmatizing.

“It just breaks your heart,” Brownell said, relating a story from a Yale patient who recalled being absent from school as a child and learning that the teacher had told the class, “She’s probably home eating.”

In the study, 106 children ages 5 to 18 were asked to rate their well-being on physical, emotional and social measures.

The dismal scores were far lower than anticipated, said the lead author, Dr. Jeffrey Schwimmer, a pediatric gastroenterologist at UC San Diego.

“The magnitude is striking,” Schwimmer said. “The likelihood of significant quality-of-life impairment was profound for obese children.”

Obese youngsters were more likely to miss school than healthy, mostly normal weight kids. Schwimmer linked that to suffering more weight-related physical ailments and more teasing at school.

A JAMA editorial noted that study participants had more than a fivefold increased risk of reporting low quality of life than healthy youngsters.

“It seems clear that one of the most compelling medical challenges of the 21st century is to develop effective strategies to prevent and treat pediatric obesity,” Drs. Jack and Susan Yanovski of the National Institutes of Health said in the editorial.

The study participants filled out questionnaires last year used by pediatricians. The youngsters rated such things as their ability to walk more than one block, play sports, sleep well, get along with others and keep up in school.