Health-related quality of life among urban children living in poverty

Poverty is one of the challenges and barriers to children's well-being. Although studies have sought to understand many aspects of children's quality of life, there is still an urgency to comprehend Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) among children of the urban poor. Therefore, concentrating on urban poverty in Malaysia, the study aims to investigate the issue by comprehensively analysing how gender, age conceptualised as adolescent category, number of siblings, internet access, and the extent of family healthy living style affect the children's HRQoL measured as psychological, physical, friends, family and school relationship. Data was collected by surveying 855 children aged 7 to 17 under parental supervision. The findings suggest that boys scored lower than girls in psychological, family, peer, and school domains compared to girls. Age-related variations emerged in physical, friends, and school dimensions. In terms of the number of siblings, differences were evident between 0 and 2 siblings and more than six siblings' groups, impacting HRQoL across all HRQoL domains. Internet access and a healthy family setting are related to enhanced HRQoL. The study and its findings enrich theoretical discourse that aligns with established child development theories. Likewise, practical intervention strategies could be developed to benefit urban children navigating poverty-associated challenges. Future research may compare the study settings of urban and rural differences or evaluate policy intervention effectiveness.