Childhood overweight and obesity in a region of Italian immigration in Southern Brazil: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

BackgroundThe main modifiable risk factors for obesity are related to lifestyle and significantly influenced by the family, environment and culture. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated lifestyle factors in children from Bento Gonçalves, a southern Brazil city with strong Italian immigration influence. Italian traditional foods were locally adapted since the immigrants’ arrival in the XIX century, to include more fat and fewer vegetables, and physical activity levels have decreased.MethodsCross-sectional study of a population-based cluster sample with students aged 9–18 years. We assessed time spent in sedentary behaviors, hours of physical activity, food frequency and family history. All children underwent physical examination with anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Overweight and obesity were classified according to WHO percentile curves.ResultsA total of 590 students were evaluated. Mean age was 12.45 ± 1.49 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 16.3% and 8.3%, respectively. Boys were more frequently overweight and obese than girls (16.3% and 12.2% versus 16.2% and 5.5%, respectively). Vegetables and fruits were consumed less than 4 times per week in 49% and 36.8%, while soft drinks, fast food and sweets were consumed more than 4 times a week by 71%, 70.3% and 42.7%, respectively. The habit of omitting breakfast was associated with overweight (p = 0.007). The average screen time was 5.38 ± 2.88 hours/day. Overweight/obesity was present in 12.2% (n = 5), 24.8% (n = 122) and 36.8% (n = 14) children with low birth weight, normal birth weight and high birth weight respectively (p = 0.04). The prevalence of high blood pressure was higher in obese (30.6%) and overweight (21.2%) children, comparing to eutrophic children (6.8%; p < 0.001). Excess weight was more frequent among fathers (62.8%) than in mothers (46.3%), but excess weight in mothers was positively associated with excess weight in children (p 0.048).ConclusionThe city showed high prevalence of overweight and obesity. These findings reinforce the importance of implementing prevention strategies aimed at children and their families, considering that health habits are shared and transmitted along generations.

Systematic review of childhood and adolescence sedentary behavior: analysis of the Report Card Brazil 2018

“…SC (2014) < 4 hours/day 12,22,23 17.6 12 13.8 22 12.6 23 Sousa and Silva 21 Gonçalves et al 24 Castro et al 25 São José. SC (2014) < 2 hours/day 21,24,25 13.6 21 14.6 24 12.8 25 9.1 21 17.3 21 Mielke et al 11 Duquia et al 29 Pelotas Pereira et al 34 Silva et al 35 Uruguaiana/RS (2011) < 3 hours/day 35.8 34 38.2 35 33.5 35 Oliveira et al 36 Cureau et al 101 Brazil (2013-2014) ≤ 2 hours/day 26.5 36 40.5 101 25.6 36 27.7 36 Geremia et al 109 Christofaro et al 38 Christofaro et al 39 Londrina. PR (2011) < 2 hours/day 10.0 39 6.2 38 12.…”

Food Insecurity and Major Diet-Related Morbidities in Migrating Children: A Systematic Review

“…that were taken into account by the single works. Most of the studies highlighted a higher prevalence of overweight/obesity in migrant than in non-migrant children [35,37,39,40,42,[47][48][49]. Obesity is linked to difficulties in social adjustment, low self-esteem, depression, and lower academic achievement [64,65], causing a significant reduction in the children's quality of life [66]).…”

“…The increased risk of being overweight in children with a migration background is affected by multiple factors, such as maternal obesity [35,40], given that women commonly assume the primary responsibility for the care and feeding of children using familiar lifestyle behaviors [69], lower economic income [50,54,55], and male gender [40]. Indeed, boys, even if generally more active than girls, have been reported to consume fewer vegetables and more sweet drinks compared to girls of the same age and to watch television more hours per day [70], thus unbalancing the ratio between caloric intake and consumption.…”

“…Another cross-sectional study by Geremia et al [40] showed a high prevalence of being overweight and obese (16.3% (95% CI: 13.3-19.3) and 8.3% (95% CI: 6.1-10.5)) in schoolchildren of a southern Brazilian city with a strong Italian immigration influence. Factors such as omission of breakfast (OR 0.669 (95% CI: 0.499-0.896); p = 0.007), overweight and obesity in mothers (OR 1.022 (95% CI: 1.012-1.031); p < 0.001), age (OR 0.875 (95% CI: 0.776-0.987); p = 0.030) and male gender (OR 1.341 (95% CI: 1.009-1.782); p = 0.043) were significantly associated with excess weight.…”

Sedentary behavior and body composition in children of low-and mid-income countries: a review

“…Olaya-Contreras et al 49 BMI: No differences among groups (normal weight, overweight and obese) by ANOVA Tayyem et al 55 No association between screen time and higher waist-height ratio (≥ 0.5) Geremia et al 29 No associations between screen time and excess weight OR = 1.02; 95%CI: 0.97-1.07…”