Impaired quality of life in treatment-seeking obese children of Dutch, Moroccan, Turkish and Surinamese descent

Objective: To determine the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of overweight and obese multi-ethnic children compared with normal-weight children; and to investigate differences in HRQOL between self- and parent-proxy reports and ethnic groups. Design: Prospective cross-sectional study. Setting: Out-patient clinic where children and their parents filled out a validated HRQOL questionnaire (KIDSCREEN-52) and height, weight, waist circumference and fat percentage were measured. Subjects: Overweight and obese children, aged 8–18 years (mean BMI Z-score 3·2 (sd 0·6)), from the obesity out-patient clinic. Results: Three hundred and eight self- and 213 parent-proxy reported questionnaires were completed. Global HRQOL and the Physical Wellbeing, Moods & Emotions and Self-Perception subscales were markedly reduced in our multi-ethnic obese cohort, relative to the Dutch reference values. Parent proxies reported significantly lower on the global HRQOL and the Physical Wellbeing, Moods & Emotions and Bullying subscales. In Caucasian children, multivariate analyses showed that BMI was associated with the quality-of-life subscales Moods & Emotions, Self-Perception and Bullying. Conclusions: HRQOL was markedly reduced in our multi-ethnic overweight and obese out-patient clinic cohort, with significantly lower parent-proxy scores compared with self-reported scores. We believe intervention programmes aiming to improve HRQOL should be directed to both parents and children, while ethnic-specific programmes to enhance HRQOL seem of less importance

Efficacy and tolerability of a high loading dose (25,000 IU weekly) vitamin D3 supplementation in obese children with vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency

BACKGROUND: The recommended dose of vitamin D supplementation of 400 IU/day might be inadequate to treat obese children with vitamin D insufficiency. Therefore, we tested the efficacy and tolerability of a high loading dose vitamin D3 supplementation of 25,000 IU weekly in multiethnic obese children, 8-18 years of age, with vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency. METHODS: Fasting blood samples were drawn for the assessment of vitamin D. Vitamin D-insufficient/-deficient children (50 nmol/l) was reached in >75% without side effects nor reaching toxic levels. RESULTS: In total, 109 children (mean ± SD age 11.1 ± 3.0, 34.2% boys, 90.8% obese) received vitamin D supplementation. In 84.4% of the children, the vitamin D status improved from insufficiency/deficiency (<50 nmol/l) to sufficiency (≥50 nmol/l). The majority of children that did not reach vitamin D sufficiency reported non-compliance. No side effects were reported, and the highest level reached was far below the threshold for toxicity. CONCLUSION: A high loading dose vitamin D3 supplementation is effective and well-tolerated in our cohort of multiethnic obese children with vitamin D insufficiency/deficiency