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Obesity among children attending elementary public schools in São Paulo, Brazil: a case–control study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2006

Isabela da Costa Ribeiro*
Affiliation:
Curso de Nutrição da Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Paraná, Rua Imaculada Conceição, 1155 – Prado Velho, Caixa Postal 16.210, Curitiba, PR, CEP 80215-901, Brazil
José Augusto AC Taddei
Affiliation:
Departamento de Pediatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil
Fernando Colugnatti
Affiliation:
Departamento de Pediatria, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, SP, Brazil
*
*Corresponding author: Email iribeironut@yahoo.com.br or nutsec@yahoo.com.br
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Abstract

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Objective:

To describe obesity among students of public schools in São Paulo and to identify risk factors for this nutritional and physical activity disorder.

Design:

Case– control study of obese and non-obese schoolchildren to study risk factors for obesity.

Setting:

Anthropometric survey including 2519 children attending eight elementary public schools in Sã o Paulo, Brazil.

Subjects:

Schoolchildren aged 7–10 years, of whom 223 were obese (cases; weight-for-height greater than or equal to two standard deviations(≥2SD) above the median of the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) reference population) and 223 were eutrophic (controls; weight-for-height ±1SD from NCHS median).

Measurements:

Parents or guardians of the 446 cases and controls were interviewed about the children's eating behaviours and habits.

Results:

The prevalence of obesity (weight-for-height ≥2SD) in the surveyed population was 10.5%. A logistic regression model fitted to the case–control dataset showed that obesity was positively associated with the following factors: birth weight ≥3500 g (odds ratio (OR) 1.83, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.21–2.78), child's appetite at meals (OR 3.81, 95% CI 2.49–5.83), watching television for 4h per day or longer (OR 2.07, 95% CI 1.32–3.24), mother's schooling>4 years (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.25–2.75) and parents' body mass index ≥ 30 kgm−2(OR 2.50, 95% CI 1.43–4.37).

Conclusion:

The explanatory multivariate model points to preventive measures that would encourage knowledge of the children and their guardians in relation to a balanced diet and a less sedentary lifestyle, such as reducing television viewing. Schoolchildren with a birth weight of 3500g or more or whose parents are obese should receive special attention in the prevention of obesity.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2003

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