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Evaluation of the nutritional situation of the students of the "Benito Juarez" Elementary School according to the Body Mass Index. Jose Maria Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico

2022; Society of Pharmaceutical Tecnocrats; Volume: 12; Issue: 4-S Linguagem: Inglês

10.22270/jddt.v12i4-s.5473

2250-1177

José Franco Monsreal, Lidia Esther del Socorro Serralta–Peraza, Angel Adrián Varguez-Dzul, María Selene Sánchez-Uluac, Javier Jesús Flores–Abuxapqui,

Health and Lifestyle Studies

Introduction. The Body Mass Index, also called the Quetelet Index, is a measurement (kg/m²) used as an indicator of weight adequacy for a given height. The resulting value is interpreted as an indicator of different nutritional situations, both physiological (normal weight) and pathological (low weight, overweight and obesity). Objective. To evaluate the nutritional situation of the students of the "Benito Juarez" Elementary School in the Maya municipality of Jose Maria Morelos, Quintana Roo, Mexico, during the period from June 3, 2019, to July 12, 2020. Material and methods. Cross–sectional descriptive observational epidemiological study without directionality and with prospective temporality. One hundred and twenty–eight students from "Benito Juarez" Elementary School were evaluated. As a hypothesis test or statistical significance test, the Mantel–Haenszel Chi–Square statistic (x²M–H) was used. Likewise, the Epi Info software for Windows, version 7.1.4.0, was used to obtain the values ​​of both the x²M–H statistic and the probability (p). Results. Fifty–four (42.19%), 70 (54.69%), 3 (2.34%) and 1 (0.78%) students presented low weight, normal weight, overweight and obesity, respectively. Conclusion. It is concluded that the students of the "Benito Juarez" Elementary School present health problems with respect to their nutritional situation, since 45.31% (58/128) have a pathological nutritional situation (low weight, overweight and obesity). Keywords: Assessment, nutritional status, school–age students, body mass index