Abstract
ABSTRACTObjective:To evaluate the sociodemographic and lifestyle factors associated with abdominal obesity in children from public schools in Barbacena, state of Minas Gerais, Brazil.Methods:This is a cross-sectional study conducted on 326 students aged 7 to 9 years from public schools in the urban area of the city. Anthropometric data included body weight, height, body mass index according to age, waist circumference, and waist-to-height ratio. Food consumption was evaluated using the Previous Day Food Questionnaire. Abdominal obesity was assessed based on waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio. The bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed by logistic regression, estimating the crude and adjusted odds ratio (OR), with 95% confidence interval.Results:The prevalence of overweight was 30.7%; whereas the prevalence of abdominal obesity was 9.2 and 12.6% according to waist circumference and waist-to-height ratio, respectively. Boys (OR 2.76; 95%CI 1.22–6.25) and children from central schools (OR 2.73; 95%CI 1.08–6.80) presented an increased chance of abdominal obesity according to waist circumference. Abdominal obesity according to waist-to-height ratio was associated with the central location of the schools (OR 2.18; 95%CI 1.02–4.63) and the habit of skipping supper (OR 2.01; 95%CI 1.00–4.09).Conclusions:The findings showed that being a boy, studying in a central school, and skipping supper were the main risk factors associated with abdominal obesity.
Highlights
Obesity is considered a serious public health issue, especially in children.[1]
Most schoolchildren with inadequacies related to excess body weight and obesity were boys, considering body mass index (BMI)-for-age (16.9%; n=55), waist circumference (WC) (6.4%; n=21), and waist-to-height ratio (WtHR) (7.4%; n=24) (Tables 1 and 2)
As the main result of this study, being a boy, studying in public schools located in the central region, and skipping supper were considered risk factors for abdominal obesity in schoolchildren aged between seven and nine years
Summary
Obesity is considered a serious public health issue, especially in children.[1]. Children and adolescents are more vulnerable to present nutritional disorders due to the intense process of growth and development, which results in increased energy and nutritional demands.[1]. Anthropometry is widely used in clinical practice because it is a low-invasive method, of low cost, and of good reproducibility.[1] The body mass index (BMI) is the main instrument used to diagnose individuals’ obesity. It does not provide an accurate estimate of body composition, this index has a good correlation with body fat and, mainly, with risk of mortality. The combined use of these three anthropometric indices (BMI, WC, and WtHR) allows more reliable estimates of the evaluation of abdominal obesity and, of the risk of developing CVD among children.[1]
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