The role of body mass index, weight change desires and depressive symptoms in the health-related quality of life of children living in urban disadvantage: Testing mediation models

Objectives: This study was undertaken to ascertain whether or not the body mass index (BMI) of urban disadvantaged children indirectly affects their health-related quality of life (HRQoL) through weight change desires and depressive symptoms and whether such mediation is conditional upon age and gender.Design: A total of 255 children aged 7–12 years (50% male) were recruited from 7 schools in urban disadvantaged districts in Ireland using consecutive sampling. A prospective longitudinal design was employed whereby children completed, at two time points, the Kidscreen-27, the Children’s Depression Inventory,  and the Health Related Behaviour Questionnaire, and had their BMI measured. The analyses involved multiple-, half-longitudinal- and moderated-mediation.Results: Results showed that the depressive symptoms of children wanting to change their weight may have lead, in large part, to poorer HRQoL (specifically psychological well-being when considering longitudinal data) rather than weight status per se. T...