Abstract

CABRERA, Thays Fernanda Castilho et al. Analisys of the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the level of physical activity in children and adolescents of a southwestern city of São Paulo. Rev. bras. crescimento desenvolv. hum. [online]. 2014, vol.24, n.1, pp. 67-72. ISSN 0104-1282.

This study aimed to verify the prevalence of overweight, obesity and physical activity level according to the sex of children and adolescents from public schools city of Nantes, São Paulo, Brazil. The sample consisted of 170 children and 232 adolescents with a mean age of 8.04±1.31 and 13.2±1.83 years, respectively, of both sex and frequenters of two schools. Anthropometric measurements were collected: body mass index by age (BMI/age) and abdominal circumference. The BMI/age was classified according to the Sistema de Vigilância Alimentar e Nutricional (SISVAN) (2007) and a modified, adapted and suggested questionnaire by Silva (2009) was used to analyze the physical activity level. An unpaired t test was used and p-values < 0.05 were considered significant. The prevalence of 30.59% of the overweight or obese individuals, most of them adolescents, was verified. A higher media was also found with a significant value difference of the abdominal circumference in the females sex in the children group. It was observed that 62.68% of the sample was inactive or inadequately active and that most were female. Those facts demonstrate the sizable risk that these individuals may present for cardiovascular and musculoskeletal complications throughout life. The importance of the early educational and nutritional programs in schools should be emphasized with the prevention and treatment of overweight and low physical activity level individuals.

Keywords : prevalence; overweight; obesity; child; adolescent; exercise.

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