OBJECTIVES: to determine overweight and obesity in school aged children between seven and nine years old in a public school in Florianopolis. METHODS: four hundred and nineteen children between seven and nine years old were surveyed, 215 (51.3%) males and 204 (48.79%) females. Overweight and obesity diagnostic criteria were determined by the cut-off points of body mass index (BMI). To determine prevalence difference the chi-square test was used. RESULTS: a 17.9% overweight prevalence was determined with higher prevalence in males (19.1) than in females (16.7%) and 6.7% of obesity with higher values for males (7.9%) than females (5.4%) although this difference is not statistically significant. There's a higher overweight prevalence in eight year olds (20.4%) and higher obesity prevalence in nine year olds (6.8%). Considering age group and gender the higher overweight prevalence was determined for eight year old females and obesity for seven year olds males. CONCLUSIONS: a high overweight and obesity prevalence was determined when compared to other national and international studies. These findings point towards the need of nutritional intervention measures aiming at the improvement of nutrition habits and nutritional status in the schools surveyed.
Body mass index; Overweight; Obesity; Scholars
