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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 ,
José Augusto AC Taddei  and
Fernando Colugnatti
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.

Keywords

ObesityRisk factorsSchoolchildrenMaternal obesityTelevision viewing
Type
Research Article
Information
Public Health Nutrition , Volume 6 , Issue 7 , October 2003 , pp. 659 - 663
Copyright
Copyright © CABI Publishing 2003

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