Eating Behaviors vs. BMI: which is more related with Health-Related Quality of Life? A Cross-Sectional Study on Iranian Female Adolescents

With the increasing prevalence of obesity among adolescents, many studies have been conducted on the impact of body mass index (BMI) on adolescents’ health-related quality of life. The objective of this research was to study the association among eating behavior constructs, anthropometric parameters of BMI, and health-related quality of life (HRQOL).

Random cluster sampling was employed to select 250 female high school students and their mothers in six schools located in District 3 of Tehran, Iran, in October 2017. The research tools were: Child Eating Behavior Questionnaire (CEBQ), Short Form of Health-Related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Children and Adolescents (Kidscreen-10), and BMI measurements. Data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and analysis of variance.

The findings of the research showed a significant indirect correlation between certain practices of eating behavior with HRQOL variables such as emotional over-eating (r=“0.13”, P=0.038) and emotional under-eating (r=“0.14”, P=0.022); a weak significant indirect correlation was further observed between slowness in eating (r=“0.11”, P=”0.078”) and variables of HRQOL. The results showed no association between BMI and HRQOL.

The present study showed that controlling behaviors such as slowness in eating, emotional over-eating, and emotional under-eating are able to significantly improve the quality of life regardless of anthropometric indices. Eating behaviors ultimately make up a major component of adolescents’ lifestyle; therefore, they play a key role in improving their quality of life.