Adiposity and metabolic profile of schoolchildren in the urban areas of Ouro Preto, Minas Gerais

Abstract

Obesity, defined as an excess in body fat, is a multifactorial disease involving both genetic and environmental risk factors. Early diagnosis and interventions during critical periods of development of obesity-childhood and adolescence-have been recommended, aiming at preventing unfavorable outcomes at a later age. This cross-sectional study sought to characterize the lipid profile, glucose, adiponectin, leptin and ghrelin in schoolchildren between six and nine years of age with overweight and obesity in the city of Ouro Preto (MG). The data was analyzed with the Shapiro Wilk normality test, groups comparisons were made with either a parametric (T test) or a nonparametric (Mann Whitney) test, adopting confidence intervals of 95% and a significance level of ≤ 0.05. The average age of the school population was 7.8 ± 1.1 years, with a prevalence of 8.9% of overweight and 3% of obesity. Hypercholesterolemia was found in 5.5%, HDL was abnormal in 98.7%, LDL levels were borderline in 32.4% and altered glucose levels were present in 46.6% of the children. In stratified analysis by gender, higher values of leptin in girls (p = 0.032) and ghrelin in boys (p = 0.033) were found, with no difference for the other variables. The results show that overweight/obesity among schoolchildren should be considered a significant health problem in this population, highlighting the importance of implementing early intervention programs. Uncovering the precursors of childhood obesity could lead to interventions so as to prevent or mitigate its consequences in youth and adulthood.

Overweight and associated factors in young adult student girls

“…The literature highlights the age of about six years as the most critical periods in the development of more body fat accumulation (8) , being the occurrence of obesity, according to the distribution by sex and age, evidenced with high risk in girls (20) . From approximately six years, one in two obese children becomes an obese adult, while only one in ten non-obese children reaches the same adult outcome (19) .…”