title: Effects of a diabetes prevention programme on weight-specific quality of life in Latino youth.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the effects of a diabetes prevention programme on weight-specific Quality of Life (QOL) in obese Latino youth.
  
  
  METHODS
  Fifteen obese Latino adolescents (body mass index % = 96.4 ± 1.2; age = 15.0 ± 1.0) completed a 12-week culturally grounded, community-based intervention designed to improve physical and psychosocial health. Weight-specific QOL was assessed by the Youth Quality of Life-Weight module and compared with age, sex and ethnicity-matched lean youth.
  
  
  RESULTS
  At baseline, intervention youth exhibited significantly lower weight-specific QOL compared with lean youth (70.8 ± 5.4 vs. 91.2 ± 2.2, P = 0.002). However, following the intervention, total weight-specific QOL increased by 21.8% among obese youth (70.8 ± 5.4 to 86.2 ± 4.3, P < 0.001) and was no longer different from lean controls. Significant increases in weight-specific QOL were noted across all subdomains including self (45.7%), social (11.9%) and environmental (36.2%) despite the fact that weight did not change (90.6 ± 6.8 to 89.9 ± 7.2, P = 0.44). The improvements in QOL were maintained for up to 12 months after the intervention.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Weight-specific QOL among obese Latino youth can be improved through lifestyle interventions to a level similar to lean peers. Further, weight loss may not be necessary to observe improvements in QOL.
authors.affiliation: Southwest Interdisciplinary Research Center, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Brito
authors.forename: D L
authors.initials: DL
authors.lastname: Patrick
authors.forename: Y P
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Konopken
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Keller
authors.forename: C S
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Barroso
authors.forename: G Q
authors.initials: GQ
authors.lastname: Shaibi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D001823:Body Composition; D015992:Body Mass Index; D003924:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2 / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006266:Health Education; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009042:Motivation; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000208:ethnology / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D040242:Risk Reduction Behavior; D012648:Self Care / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States / Q000208:ethnology; D015431:Weight Loss
keywords: Adolescent; QOL; diabetes prevention; lifestyle