Effects of social and environmental determinants on overweight and obesity among Brazilian schoolchildren from a developing region Efectos de los determinantes sociales y ambientales sobre la obesidad y el sobrepeso en escolares de una región en desarrollo del Brasil

• Main Authors: Dartagnan Pinto Guedes, Giselle Divino Rocha, António José Rocha Martins Silva, Isabel Mourão Carvalhal, Eduarda Maria Coelho
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English; Spanish; Portuguese
• Published: Pan American Health Organization 2011
• Subjects: Obesidad; sobrepeso; índice de masa corporal; evaluación nutricional; factores socioeconómicos; niño; adolescente; Brasil; Obesity; overweight; body mass index; nutrition assessment; socioeconomic factors; child; adolescence; Brazil; Medicine; R; Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine; RC955-962; Public aspects of medicine; RA1-1270; Arctic
• Online Access: https://doaj.org/article/ccc54b1eca464f898e767264941028c8

OBJECTIVE: To identify the social and environmental determinants most strongly associated with overweight and obesity in Brazilian schoolchildren from a developing region. METHODS: Data were collected from a community-based survey of schoolchildren from the Valley of Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The sample was composed of 5 100 school children aged 6-18 years. Overweight and obesity were defined by body mass index based on the current method recommended by the World Health Organization in 2007. Social and environmental determinants were collected by using a structured questionnaire. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 11.1% and 2.7% in girls and 8.2% and 1.5% in boys, respectively. The chance of overweight was higher in schoolchildren who engaged in remunerated work (odds ratio [OR] = 2.19, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.30- 3.26), whose parents had higher education levels (OR = 1.52, 95% CI 1.12-2.07), who had two or fewer siblings (OR = 1.74, 95% CI 1.21-2.49), and who were in a high economic class (OR = 1.93, 95% CI 1.32-2.85). Schoolchildren who traveled by car to school (OR = 1.50, 95% CI 1.14-1.91), lived < 5 km from school (OR = 1.64, 95% CI 1.06-2.39), and consumed foods sold in the school cafeteria (OR = 1.56, 95% CI 1.19-2.16) presented high odds of being overweight. CONCLUSIONS: The background from a particular region of a country should be considered when implementing preventive measures regarding overweight and obesity, especially for very poor, developing regions like the Valley of Jequitinhonha. Measures taken should consider a multilevel intervention that includes the family, school, and physical environment. OBJETIVO: Identificar los determinantes sociales y ambientales más firmemente asociados con el sobrepeso y la obesidad en niños que asisten a la escuela en una región en desarrollo del Brasil. MÉTODOS: Se recopilaron los datos de una encuesta comunitaria llevada a cabo en niños inscritos en escuelas del valle de Jequitinhonha, Minas Gerais (Brasil). La muestra ...