Prevalence Of Overweight And Obesity In 8 To 12 Year-old Children From Guadalajara

Abstract

Purpose To determine the prevalence of body mass index (BMI) above the 85th and 95th percentile scores of the Center for Disease Control - 2000 (CDC) and the National Health and Nutritional Examination Survey (NHANES-1) in children from Guadalajara, Mexico. Methods The subjects were nine hundred-thirty-seven (n = 937) 8 to 12 year-old children (boys; n = 475, girls; n = 462 girls) enrolled in the public school system. Their height and body mass were determined with calibrated equipment by trained technicians and physicians. BMI was calculated as follows: body mass in kilograms divided by height in meters squared. Overweight and obesity were defined at the 85th and 95th percentile, respectively, according to the CDC and NHANES-1 standards. Results In both genders and for all age groups the 85th and 95th percentile scores were above those of the CDC and NHANES-1. The overall prevalence for overweight (85th percentile) according to the CDC was 32.6% (boys = 32.8% and girls = 31.6%), while from the NHANES-1 standard was 33.8% (boys = 35.4% and girls = 32.0%). The prevalence for obesity (95th percentile) was 15.6% (CDC) vs. 18.8% (NHANES-1). Boys had greater BMI scores thatn girls across all age groups. Conclusion The findings indicated that regardless of reference standard the prevalence of overweight and obesity in our sample of Mexican children from the Guadalajara public school system is greater than that of age- and gender-matched American children. Further research is warranted to identify the factor(s) influencing the present results.