Indicadores de crescimento físico e adiposidade abdominal em escolares dos anos iniciais do ensino fundamental

Abstract

Objective: to evaluate physical growth indicators and health-related abdominal adiposity in schoolchildren in the early years of elementary school. Methods: Cross-sectional study, sample consisting of 461 children (6 to 10 years old), both sexes. Measures of body mass, height, body mass index, waist circumference and waist-height ratio were collected. A descriptive analysis was used for the growth trajectory curves, and the prevalence ratio (PR) was estimated through Poisson regression, with a significance level of 5%. Results: The children presented linear behavior in the medians for body mass, stature, and BMI as they age. The prevalence of excess weight was 26.5%, high values ??for waist circumference (26.5% male and 27.3% female) and waist-height ratio (13.7% male 21.1% female) with difference between genders (p = 0.038). The overweight children had a 7.42 higher prevalence ratio of having a high waist circumference (95% CI 5.63 - 9.79), whereas for waist-to-height ratio for a PR 7.73 (95% CI 5. 49 - 10.88), regardless of sex and age. Conclusion: Physical growth indicators and abdominal adiposity showed increasing worrying prevalence, which associated BMI with other measures of abdominal adiposity, that in turn can negatively influence full growth during childhood.