Pilot evaluation of obesity‐specific health‐related quality of life following a 12‐week non‐randomized lifestyle intervention in youth

BACKGROUND: Health‐related quality of life (HRQOL), a multifaceted construct for understanding health and healthcare outcomes, is comprised of eight domains of well‐being and functioning over time and has become an essential factor in assessing outcomes for youth with obesity. AIMS: To evaluate the effect of a community based, lifestyle intervention, on obesity‐specific HRQOL using the Sizing Me Up (SMU) in this group of Latino and White youth. MATERIALS AND METHODS: For this 12‐week family and community‐based intervention (ACT; Actively Changing Together), HRQOL was measured before and after the intervention concluded using the obesity‐specific HRQOL tool, SMU. This study enrolled 68 youth (10.9 ± 2 years; 54% male; 50% non‐Hispanic white). Paired t‐tests were used to examine the Sizing Me Up sub‐scales: Emotion, Physical, Social Avoidance, Positive Attributes, Teasing, and the total score. A greater change score indicated a larger increase in quality of life sub‐scale. RESULTS: Significant improvements from baseline to follow‐up were found in the total SMU (mean change = 5.27, SD 10.76, p = 0.00) and for the sub‐scores of: emotion (mean change = 8.06, SD 16.85, p ≤ 0.00), teasing (mean change = 5.65, SD 16.79, p = 0.01), and social avoidance (mean change = 3.92, SD 11.21, p = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Sizing Me Up provided a clinically meaningful tool for this research study to evaluate obesity‐specific HRQOL among Hispanic and non‐Hispanic White youth with obesity.