Perceived social support from teachers and classmates does not moderate the inverse association between body mass index and health-related quality of life in adolescents

Abstract

Purpose The current study investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among a large and non-clinical sample of adolescents, and tested the possible moderating effect of perceived teacher and classmate support on this association. Methods French-speaking Belgian adolescents (n = 11,342) self-reported height and weight, HRQoL (KIDSCREEN-10), as well as their perception of teacher and classmate relationships. Adjusting for sociodemographics, linear regression analyses with HRQoL as the outcome variable were performed for boys and girls separately. Interactions between BMI and teacher support, and between BMI and classmate support were included to examine the effect of this support on the association between BMI and HRQoL. Results Obesity was associated with lower HRQoL for boys (β = − 2.14, p = 0.002) and for girls (β = − 2.96, p = 0.001), while only overweight girls showed a significant impaired HRQoL compared with normal-weight ones (β = − 0.94, p = 0.01). In both sexes, lower perceived teacher and classmate support was associated with lower HRQoL. Interactions between BMI and perceived teacher relationships, and between BMI and perceived classmate relationships, were not significant for boys as for girls. Conclusions Perceived school-related social support constitutes an important dimension of adolescent well-being, suggesting the relevance of considering it for promoting greater HRQoL in overweight and obese youth. Future studies are needed to confirm the absence of moderating effect of this support and explore its effect on other weight-related factors, like body image, weight misperception and bullying, associated with decreased HRQoL in adolescents. Keywords Health-related quality of life • Body mass index • Perceived classmate support • Perceived teacher support • Adolescent Abbreviations BMI Body mass index FAS Family Affluence Scale HBSC Health Behaviour in School-aged Children HRQoL Health-related quality of life IOTF International Obesity Task Force Childhood overweight and obesity are major public health challenges of the twenty-first century. In Belgium, about 15% of the children (3-9 years) and 18% of the adolescents (10-17 years) were overweight or obese in 2014 [1]. Overweight and obesity developed in childhood are likely to persist in adulthood and are associated with the early development of non-communicable diseases, such as cardiovascular Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Overestimation of body weight and its association with parental, teacher and peer support: evidence from the Israeli Health Behaviours in Schools survey

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