Effects of the physical activity and socioeconomic status in overweight and obesity in school students, East Lima 2005

Abstract

Objectives: To document the prevalence of overweight and obesity, as well as to determine the influence of socioeconomic status and physical activity levels in body mass index (BMI) of school students aged 6 to 11 years. Material and methods: Be evaluated 4191 children of seven educational institutions of East Lima. Overweight and obesity were assessed by BMI, physical activity levels were evaluated from a questionnaire developed by Godin and Shephard, and for the characterization of socioeconomic status (SES) we used as criteria the school where subjects study. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 22% and 7%, respectively, 32,9% of children were considered as little active. The students of higher SES have a great risk of developing overweight (OR: 3,9; 95CI: 3,1- 4,9) or obesity (OR: 11,5; CI95: 7,3-18,2) adjusted to age, sex and physical activity level. No significant association was found between physical activity levels and overweight or obesity. Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was found reinforce the world concern with infantile obesity and its consequences in the future. The most influential factors of overweight and obesity were SES, age and sex. Physical activity doesn’t present any significant association.