Prevalence and factors associated with central obesity in schoolchildren in Santa Catarina, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Bettiol FELTRIN, Gabriella
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: de Assis Guedes de VASCONCELO, Francisco S, da Cunha Feio COSTA, Larissa, Catarina Tittoni CORSO, Arlete
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/8190
• topic: Child; Food consumption; Central obesity; Prevalence; Risk factors; Criança; Consumo de alimentos; Obesidade central; Prevalência; Fatores de risco

ObjectiveThe aims of this article are to estimate the prevalence and to identify the sociodemographic factors and food consumption associated with central obesity in schoolchildren 6-10 years old of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. MethodsIt consists in a cross-sectional population-based study involving 4,963 schoolchildren enrolled in the public and private sectors. The dependent variable is central obesity investigated by measuring waist circumference and classified according to percentiles/gender/age. Bivariate and multivariate analyzes were also performed. ResultsThe prevalence of central obesity was 4,9% (CI95%=4,3;5,5), being more prevalent in boys with statistical significance (p=0,003). The other variables investigated (age the schoolchildren, type of school, maternal education, protective and risk food consumption, number of daily meals) were not associated with outcome. Among the schoolchildren who had central obesity (n=243), 99.3% of the boys and 99.0% of the girls also showed overweight/obesity. ConclusionThe prevalence of central obesity was lower than that reported in national and international studies. In this scenario, the gender (male) variable was strongly associated with the outcome. The identified prevalence is a major concern in nutrition and medical science as the central obesity may remain in adulthood and showstrong association with cardiovascular risk. It is noteworthy that there is a need for obesity prevention campaigns that encourage children and their parents to adopt a healthier life style. Finally, other studies should be conducted in order to examine potential factors linked to central obesity.