Obesity in children in Portugal: A cross-sectional study

Authors

  • Paulo Venâncio Interno de Formação Específica de Pediatria. Centro de Saúde do Lumiar, Hospital Distrital de Santarém, EPE.
  • Sara Aguilar Interna de Formação Específica de Pediatria. Centro de Saúde do Lumiar, Centro Hospitalar Lisboa Norte, Hospital de Santa Maria.
  • Graciete Pinto Assistente Graduada Sénior - Medicina Geral e Familiar. Centro de Saúde do Lumiar, Centro de Saúde de Sete Rios.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v28i6.10982

Keywords:

Overweight, Obesity, Body Mass Index, Body Composition, Elementary School

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity among elementary school students in Lumiar, Portugal, to assess the associations between body mass index (BMI), percentage of body fat (PMG), and age and gender, and to test the as- sociation between the BMI of parents and their children. Type of study: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Four elementary schools in Lumiar, Portugal. Population: Students enrolled in four elementary schools of Lumiar, in 2009-2010. Methods: We measured the weight, percentage of body fat (by the electrical bio-impedance method) and height of 623 stu- dents between August of 2009 and November of 2010. A stratified sample was drawn from the total population of 862 chil- dren to provide and estimate with a 95% confidence interval (CI), a 2% error margin and a 36% proportion. BMI was calcula- ted using the formula weight/height2 (kg/m2). We used McCarthy's body fat percentiles. Overweight was defines as a BMI or PMG percentile ? 85th percentile. The SPSS 16 program for Windows® was used for statistical analysis. Results: In the study sample, 51.7% were female with a median age of 8 years [range 6-12 years]. The prevalence of overweigh was 28.4% for BMI and 30.3% for PMG. The findings were significantly lower than the findings in this population in 2005. Age was positively correlated with BMI and PMG. The prevalence of overweight was similar in both genders, using BMI and PMG per- centiles. There was a strong positive correlation between BMI and PMG (correlation 0,893, p < 0,001). Conclusions: The prevalence over overweight and obesity was lower in this population than that reported in the literature. PMG identified more overweight and obese children than BMI. It may be a useful in the study of childhood obesity.

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Published

2012-11-01

Issue

Vol. 28 No. 6 (2012): Revista Portuguesa de Medicina Geral e Familiar

Section

Original Research

License

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How to Cite

Obesity in children in Portugal: A cross-sectional study. (2012). Portuguese Journal of Family Medicine and General Practice, 28(6), 410-6. https://doi.org/10.32385/rpmgf.v28i6.10982