Body mass in adolescents with chronic pain: observational study

What is it about?

We know that high body weight makes adolescents more likely to have chronic pain, particularly in their knees and hips. However, when we think of the issue the other way round - does chronic pain make young people more likely to be overweight? - we don't know the answer. Also, it seems important to work out whether being overweight, if you have chronic pain, actually matters. That is, does it make you more unhappy or disabled? We looked at this in a sample of adolescents attending treatment for chronic pain. There was very little relationship between body weight and feeling sad, or being disabled. Also, young people tended to benefit from treatment, no matter what their weight. So, being overweight doesn't seem to make chronic pain any worse, and there is no reason to insist that young people with chronic pain should focus on weight loss.

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