Prevalence of overweight and obesity in low-income schoolchildren of developing countries.

AB, TORRES MF, QUINTERO FA, LUIS MA, CESANI ROSSI MF, OYHENART EE

Florencia, Italia

Congreso; X International Congress of Auxology; 2004

Centro Studi Auxologici

Developing countries are changing as a result of the economic, epidemiological, demographic and nutritional transitions. In some of the countries, nutritional transition presents the coexistence of stunting and other nutritional deficiencies along with increased obesity. Studies of Argentina schoolchildren have reported about 6%of undernutrition, and similar percentages of obesity. Aim: To test for the coexistence of undernutrition and obesity in low income schoolchildren. Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out on 711schoolchildren from Brandsen (Buenos Aires), aged 3-14 grouped in the following educational levels: Initial (I: 3-5 yrs), General Basic Education (GBE 1: 6-8 yrs; GBE 2: 9-11 yrs; GBE 3: 12-14 yrs). Weight and height were measured following standard protocols. Data were transformed to z scores using the National Growth Standard. Z scores less than -2 for W/A, H/A, and W/H were used as cut off to determine underweight, stunting and wasting, respectively. BMI was used to define overweight (25-29.9 Kg/m2) and obesity (¡Ý30 kg/m2). Results: The total prevalence of overweight (9%) was significantly higher than that of the other indicators, while obesity was 1.7%. On the other hand, underweight and stunting showed very low prevalence (3%) and wasting was absent. This trend was also seen for each educational level. The Initial level showed the highest prevalence of overweight plus obesity, reaching about 17%. Sex differences in prevalences were non significant. Conclusions: Overweight and obesity were significantly higher than expected in young children, while undernutrition was unusually low. These results would indicate that school diet seems to be adequate although high in calories. The activity pattern may be also responsible for the overweight in this population. We conclude that strategies in public health need to consider both undernutrition and obesity in children and take into account the association with social deprivation.