CHICAGO -- Researchers have found more reasons to be concerned about overweight children -- beyond the obvious health problems.

CHILDHOOD OBESITY Slideshow: Good-For-Kids Foods Calculate: Child's BMI Survey: Kid With Weight Problem?

Wednesday's issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association is entirely devoted to obesity studies, including one that shows overweight kids give themselves a quality-of-life score that's similar to young cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy.

The study, conducted by researchers at the University of California at San Diego, found that the likelihood of impaired quality of life for obese children was 5.5 times greater than for healthy children.

Researchers studied test results from 106 children ages 5 to 18 and their parents. On questions related to physical, emotional, social and school issues, the children self-reported their quality-of-life ratings, and parents provided their assessments.

Child nutritionist Dr. Nancy Krebs said feelings of low self-esteem among overweight children aren't surprising, given what's known about obesity and emotional health.

The researchers also found that unlike adults, where women most frequently report negative quality of life, young girls and boys were equally impacted by obesity.

"The highest rate of childhood obesity is seen in Mexican-American boys," lead researcher Jeffrey Schwimmer said. "Even though this was a fairly common condition among Hispanics, the children and their parents still reported severely impacted quality of life."

The results of the study come amid doctors' growing concern about the nation's obesity epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of obese children in the United States has increased from 5 to 6 percent in the 1970s to 15 percent today.

On the other hand, Krebs said with more kids being overweight, that may de-stigmatize obesity and make it easier for affected children to cope.

Schwimmer said physicians, parents and teachers need to be informed of the risk for impaired quality of life among overweight children.

"Many people, including physicians, don't realize that what they perceive as merely a 'chubby' child may actually be an obese child," Schwimmer said. "For example, a healthy 7-year-old should be quite lean."

Other Obesity Studies From This Week's JAMA:

Long-Term Safety Of Low-Carb Diets Unknown
Turn Off Tube To Prevent Obesity, Diabetes
Medication Helps Overweight Teens Shed Pounds
Study: Online Weight-Loss Program Successful

Additional Resource:

• Journal of the American Medical Association