Overweight and lifestyle behaviors of low socioeconomic elementary school children in Buenos Aires

Abstract

Abstract Background There is growing interest in understanding the role that lifestyle behaviors play in relation to children's weight status. The objective of the study was to determine the association between children s BMI and dietary practices and maternal BMI. Methods 330 students (168M) aged 8.9 + 2 y from 4 suburban Buenos Aires elementary schools, and their mothers aged 36.2 + 7 y were examined between April and September 2007. Mothers were asked about their children s lifestyle. Data included parental education levels socioeconomic status, mothers and children s BMI, and Tanner stage. Results All families were in the low socio-economic class. 79% of parents had an elementary education or less. 61 (18.5%) of children were obese (OB) (BMI>95%ile per CDC norms), and 53 (16.1%) overweight (OW) (BMI>8530 kg/m2), and102 (30.9%) OW (BMI>25 Conclusion Our results suggest that TV viewing, drinking sweet beverages, skipping breakfast, and maternal BMI are important predictive variables for childhood OW/OB.