Body mass index and health-related quality of life in adults: A population based study in five cities of China

Background: To investigate the relationship between obesity and health-related quality of life (HRQL) in a randomly selected Chinese sample. Methods: A total of 3600 residents aged 18-80 years were sampled in five cities of China using a randomized stratified multiple-stage sampling method to receive the intervie with a self-completed questionnaire to collect demographic informatio and the Mandarin version of Short Form 36 Health Survey questionnaire (SF-36) to assess HRQ followed by height and weight measurements for calculating body mass index (BMI). Cross-sectional association between BMI and HRQL was analysed. Results: Among the 3207 participants (mean age 42 years) suitable for analysi BMI differed by age and gender. Based on the international or the Asian BMI categorie in wome meaningful impairments were seen between obese and normal weight participants in four physical health scale and only one scale of the four mental health scales - vitality scale was affected by obesity; in me impairments by obesity were not found in all of the eight SF-36 scale and better HRQL in two mental health scales were observed in obese participants compared to normal weight ones; after adjusting related variable several physical but not mental health scales were found impaired by obesity. Conclusion: Obesity impaired physical but not mental healt and the impairments varied between genders. Public health agencies and government should emphasize the impairments of obesity on physical health.