title: Adolescent Weight Status: Associations With Structural and Functional Dimensions of Social Relations.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To examine the associations between weight status and structural and functional dimensions of social relations among 11- to 15-year-old girls and boys.
  
  
  METHODS
  Analyses were based on cross-sectional data from the Danish contribution to the international Health Behavior in School-aged Children study 2010. The study population (n = 4,922) included students in the fifth, seventh, and ninth grade from a representative sample of Danish schools. Multinomial logistic regression analyses were used to study the associations between weight status and social relations, supported by a conceptual framework for the study of social relations.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Among girls, overweight/obese weight status was associated with spending less time with friends after school compared to normal-weight status (0 days/week: odds ratio: 6.25, 95% confidence interval: 2.18-17.95, 1 day/week: 2.81, 1.02-7.77, 2 days/week: 3.27, 1.25-8.56, 3 days/week: 3.32, 1.28-8.61, and 4 days/week: 3.23, 1.17-8.92, respectively vs. 5 days/week). Among girls, overweight/obese weight status was associated with being bullied (2.62, 1.55-4.43). Among boys, overweight/obese weight status was associated with infrequent (1 to 2 days vs. every day) communication with friends through cellphones, SMS messages, or Internet (1.66, 1.03-2.67). In the full population, overweight/obese weight status was associated with not perceiving best friend as a confidant (1.59, 1.11-2.28). No associations were found between weight status and number of close same-sex and opposite-sex friends, mother/father as confidant, and perceived classmate acceptance.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows that overweight/obese adolescents have higher odds of numerous poor social relations than their normal-weight peers both in terms of structural and functional dimensions of social relations.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Heidi Hjort
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Kjelgaard
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Bjørn Evald
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Holstein
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Pernille
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Due
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: Carina Sjöberg
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Brixval
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: mera@si-folkesundhed.dk.
authors.forename: Mette
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rasmussen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior / Q000523:psychology*; D015992:Body Mass Index; D001835:Body Weight; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003718:Denmark / Q000453:epidemiology; D005195:Family Relations; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D063766:Pediatric Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D010379:Peer Group; D012649:Self Concept; D057566:Self Report; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012919:Social Behavior; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors
keywords: Children and adolescents; Functional and structural social relations; Overweight and obesity