Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Prevalence of obesity among Portuguese children (6–8 years old) using three definition criteria: COSI P ortugal, 2008

2012; Wiley; Volume: 7; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.2047-6310.2012.00068.x

2047-6310

Ana Isabel Rito, Trudy Wijnhoven, Harry Rutter, M.A. Carvalho, E. Paixão, Carlos Ramos-Galarza, Débora Pereira Cláudio, Rosa Espanca, Teresa Sancho, Zélia Cerqueira, Rumão Batista Nunes de Carvalho, Carlos Garçon de Faria, Elizabeth M. Cespedes Feliciano, João Breda,

Obesity and Health Practices

Summary What is already known about this subject? Obesity is at epidemic levels and presents a serious global public health challenge. Portugal is one of the European countries with the highest prevalence of childhood obesity. Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative (COSI) is a robust monitoring system covering similar age groups, using standardized methods that allows comparability with other WHO European Region Member States. What this study adds? In Portugal, one in every three of 6‐ to 8‐year‐old children are overweight. Compared with other COSI national surveys, a similar trend was observed in other southern European countries, particularly Italy. The reference method used to define overweight and obesity is important as it provides different estimates. Introduction Previous studies place P ortugal among the five countries with the highest prevalence of childhood obesity in Europe. This paper describes the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity in Portuguese children of 6–8 years of age, based on the first data collection from C hildhood O besity S urveillance I nitiative P ortugal, which took place during the 2007/2008 school year. Methods This study uses a semi‐longitudinal design with repeated cross‐sectional national representative samples. Specific prevalence of overweight (including obesity) and obesity was determined using three different diagnostic criteria. Across the seven geographic regions, 3765 children were enrolled from 181 schools; 50.3% of participants were males. Results Using the I nternational O besity T ask F orce reference, the prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity were 4.8%, 28.1% and 8.9%, respectively; using the C enter for D isease C ontrol and P revention reference they were 2.1%, 32.2% and 14.6%, respectively; and according to the W orld H ealth O rganization reference, they were 1.0%, 37.9% and 15.3%, respectively. Univariate analysis showed a higher risk of obesity in older children, in boys and in the Azores region. The islands of Madeira and the Azores were the regions with the highest prevalence of overweight at 39.4% and 46.6%, respectively, and Algarve was the one with the lowest (21.4%). Conclusion These findings demonstrate the need for urgent action in P ortugal and provide policy‐makers with comprehensive and detailed information to assist with this.