The happy obese child

OBJECTIVE: Firstly, is the negative psychological effect of obesity also present in the whole population of obese and overweight children? Secondly, what tools could be recommended to measure the psychological effects of obesity? DESIGN: Review. METHODS: Quality of life or self-esteem is often used in evaluating the psychological effects of obesity. Test instruments used have been instruments for measuring quality of life such as the pediatric quality of life inventory (PedsQL) or the KINDL (R) instrument, and measurements of self-esteem, such as 'ITIA' ('I think I am) and the Self-Perception Profile for Children. RESULTS: The obese child studied in community samples has better quality of life and self-esteem than obese children from clinical samples. CONCLUSION: Psychosocial factors seem to be more important than the functional limitations of obesity itself. This means that we might help the obese child better by social support to a minor part of the population than to focus on the child's obesity as a cause of psychological problems. A happy obese child might have greater resources to cope with the problem than previously thought.