Nutritional status of schoolchildren aged 6 to 10 years in the city of Cruzeiro do Oeste - PR

Abstract

Objective: To assess the nutritional status of schoolchildren. Methods: Data of the crosssectional study were obtained during the development of the “Project Educational Activities Related to School Process” in the city of Cruzeiro do Oeste-PR, Brazil. The study included children of both sexes enrolled in all six schools of the municipal network, in academic year 2010. We conducted anthropometric measurements of 1,074 schoolchildren aged 6 to 10 years. The variables assessed were weight and height to calculate BMI (Body MassIndex) for classification according to criteria proposed by Cole et al. Results: According to the nutritional status, were found 5.1% (55) of children with low weight and a significant portion of overweight and obesity, 16.6% (178) and 9.8% (105), respectively, totaling 26, 4%(283) of schoolchildren with excess weight. There was no association between nutritional status of scholars and gender. BMI and age showed a direct relationship. Conclusion: The assessment of nutritional status in the schools surveyed points to, the nutritional transition, as a significant portion of the children was considered overweight and obese. It is noteworthy that the distribution between the different nutritional statuses did not differ between thesexes, but correlated with age; with increasing age, overweight also increases.

Keywords

• Nutritional Status
• Child
• Obesity.