Anthropometric profile, eating habits and physical activity levels of students in a city in the state of São Paulo

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:To verify the prevalence of overweight in students aged 7 to 13 years in public schools in a city in the state of São Paulo; to compare the eating habits and physical activity levels of the students with those of their parents; to relate eating habits and physical activity levels to gender. METHODS:This was a transverse observational study. Eighty-two children of both genders, aged 7 -13 years, were evaluated, anthropometric data collected and body mass index for age was classified as per the Brazilian Ministry of Health "Food and Nutrition Monitoring System" (SISVAN); concurrently we applied a questionnaire for the analysis of physical activity levels and eating profiles for students and their parents. Data were analyzed through Kolmogorov-Smirnov tests, unpaired Student t test or Mann Whitney; for correlation analysis, we employed the Spearman or Pearson tests. RESULTS: In this study, half of the students were found to be overweight, with an increased abdominal circumference. We also observed that better eating habits correlated with greater physical activity. Students consumed more fried food, sweets and fruit and ate more often than their parents; few of these parents regularly perform physical activity. CONCLUSIONS: Excess weight has been found in half of the students evaluated in a small town with a high Human Development Index. It was also found that boys presented higher level of physical activity, number of meals and lower sweet intake. Furthermore, it was observed that better eating habits were associated with the level of physical activity.

Family influence on the nutritional status and eating habits of six to nine year-old children

“…Lorenzato et al [34] pointed out that children's nutritional status is correlated with that of their caregivers, reinforcing the importance of the family environment in the development of children's eating habits and, consequently, in their nutritional status. Other studies have shown that, in addition to genetic factors, many factors in the family environment can directly interfere with children's eating behavior, especially strategies adopted by those responsible for feeding them [2,5,25,27,30].…”

“…Obesity is characterized by excessive accumulation of fat at a level that could be malign to health [1,2]. Studies indicate that childhood obesity is a risk factor to developing dyslipidemia and insulin resistance even in childhood [3].…”

“…Obesity has a multifactorial character, among its main causes, and environmental factors stand out, such as socioeconomic conditions, lifestyle, and eating habits [2,[5][6][7][8][9]. Several instruments are used to assess food intake, which is one of the aspects of eating behavior [5,8,[10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19].…”

“…Eating behavior is complex: it is not restricted to consumption patterns but encompasses everything from choice and purchase to food preparation and the act of eating. Eating behavior involves several environmental, nutritional, psychological, social, and cultural factors [2,18,[24][25][26]. Nutritional knowledge alone does not guarantee healthy eating habits because the actual behavior is dependent on food beliefs, taboos, and so on [25,27].…”

Estimativa do consumo de nitrato e nitrito por escolares da rede pública: um estudo longitudinal

“…Diversos estudos identificaram elevadas prevalências de excesso de peso entre crianças e adolescentes brasileiros (DUTRA et al 2016;KNEIPP et al, 2015;LACERDA et al, 2020;PEDRAZA et al, 2017;PEDROSO;GUBERT, 2019;PINTO;MELLO, 2016;PRADO et al, 2016). Tais trabalhos condizem com os achados desta pesquisa, uma vez que confirmam os resultados em outras populações do mesmo estrato etário, O estudo longitudinal de Costa et al (2019), apesar de não ter constatado modificações ao longo do tempo no IMC de crianças dos 4 aos 8 anos de idade em função do consumo de ultraprocessados, identificou que o consumo destes alimentos em idade pré-escolar funcionou como preditor para o aumento na circunferência da cintura de crianças em idade escolar, já que para cada 10% de incremento no valor energético proveniente destes itens, valores de circunferência da cintura tendiam a sofrer aumento de 0,7 cm após ajuste de variáveis confundidoras.…”