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Abstract

Obesity among adolescents is increasing globally. Recent studies on obesity involve assessing the food addictive behaviours as a novel approach for weight loss intervention. There is dearth of studies assessing the food addictive behaviours among Indian adolescence; and impact of obesity on quality of life and stress. Materials and Methods: The food addiction behaviour and health status was measured by Yale food addiction scale and SF12 short questionnaire respectively. The stress levels were assessed using Perceived stress scale. Results: The prevalence of Food addiction among the studied normal and overweight/obese adolescents was 12% and 18% respectively. There was no significant difference in the frequencies of FA symptom in both the group. With regard to health status scores overweight/obese adolescent girls had higher scores for physical functioning, energy/fatigue and mental health domains while normal weight category had higher scores for role limitations in physical health, bodily pain, health perception and role limitation in mental health.There was no significant difference in stress levels between the two study groups. Majority of the subjects from both groups reported moderate level of stress. Conclusion: Propagation of positive health choices among adolescents such as healthy diet, indulging in physical activity and stress management are vital for a healthier future.