ABSTRACT
Background: The frequency of obesity is increasing steadily in Chile. Aim: To assess the prevalence of obesity and overweight in children and teenagers living in three southern Chilean cities. Material and Methods: The database of an evaluation performed in 2006 in schools, was used to obtain weight and height of 32514 subjects aged 12 ± 4 years (48 percent males). Criteria proposed by the International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) and the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) were used to define obesity and overweight. Results: According to CDC criteria the prevalence of overweight and obesity was 11.2 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. According to IOTF criteria, the fgures were 13.2 and 4 percent, respectively. The higher frequency of overweight and obesity was observed among children aged less than eight years. Conclusions: There is a high frequency of obesity and overweight in the studied sample.
Subject(s)
Adolescent , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Obesity/epidemiology , Chile/epidemiology , Logistic Models , Overweight/epidemiology , Prevalence , Reference Values , Risk Factors , SchoolsABSTRACT
Como los resultados del estado nutricional que entregan instituciones chilenas que recolectan datos antropométricos de su población bajo control, muestran diferentes magnitudes en el incremento del porcentaje de obesidad entre preescolares de 4 años y escolares de 1er grado, quisimos verificar la real magnitud de este aumento. Este estudio se basó en una investigación longitudinal que comenzó el 2006 con 1100 niños de 3 años, evaluados por el INTA a los 4, 5 y 6 años. Se determinó el estado nutricional a esas edades según Z IMC y referencias OMS 2006/2007. La información recogida sirvió además, para determinar la concordancia entre los datos antropométricos recogidos por profesores de escuelas públicas en escolares de 1er grado el 2009 (base JUNAEB) y los mismos niños evaluados paralelamente por el INTA (base INTA). La muestra incluyó a 474 niños de 6 años. No se observaron diferencias entre los promedios de Z IMC y Z talla/edad. El grado de concordancia entre los Z IMC fue bueno (rho= 0,73), sin embargo hubo diferencias en la clasificación nutricional, ya que el porcentaje de bajo peso fue significativamente mayor en la base JUNAEB (9,5% vs 3,6% ), mientras que el porcentaje de obesidad fue menor en la base INTA, 17,5% vs 19,2% (diferencia no significativo). A los 4 y 5 años los porcentajes de obesidad de estos niños fueron 13,3% y 15,7% respectivamente (datos INTA). Por la trayectoria observada, es más probable que el alza en el porcentaje de obesidad entre los 4 y 6 años fue de 4 puntos porcentuales y no de 6, tal como indican los datos INTA.
Because the results of the nutritional status released by Chilean institutions which collect anthropometric data on their population under control, show different increments in the prevalence of obesity between preschoolers and children in 1st grade, we decided to verify the real magnitude of this increase. This study is based on a longitudinal investigation which began in 2006 and included 1100, three-year old children, which we evaluated when they were 4, 5 and 6 y. The nutritional status was determined according to BMI Z and WHO References 2006 / 2007. The information was also used to determine the concordance between the anthropometric data collected on first graders by teachers from public schools in 2009 (JUNAEB data set) and the same children assessed in parallel by INTA (INTA data set). The sample included 474, six-year olds. No differences were found between the average BMI Z and HAZ of the two data sets, and the degree of concordance between the BMI Z´s was good (rho = 0.73), however there were differences in the nutritional status, since the prevalence of low weight was significantly greater when assessed with JUNAEB´s data (9.5% vs 3.6% ), while that for obesity was lower with INTA´s data, 17.5% vs. 19.2% (not significantly different). At 4 and 5 y, obesity prevalence of the children was 13.3% and 15.7% respectively (INTA´s data). Considering the observed nutritional trajectory, it is likely that the rise in obesity between 4 and 6 y of age, was 4 percentage points and not 6, as was determined with INTA´s data.
Subject(s)
Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Male , Body Mass Index , Nutrition Surveys/methods , Obesity/epidemiology , Thinness/epidemiology , Chile/epidemiology , Longitudinal Studies , Nutritional Status , PrevalenceABSTRACT
Background: Anthropometry is used to survey health and nutritional situation of the population. Therefore the quality of the information that is being used must be evaluated. Aim: To estímate the agreement in weight, height and nutritional status in schoolchildren, comparing measurements made by teachers in schools and a standardized and supervised team of professionals. Material and methods: Cross sectional study including 927 schoolchildren in 31 schools from 7 counties of Santiago. Schools were randomly chosen and the universe of children attending to first grade was measured. Weight, height and nutritional status collected by teachers and researches, were compared. Results: Total agreement for nutritional status reached 0.67, random-weighted Kappa was 0.40 and weighted Kappa, 0.42. Teachers tended to over diagnose under-nutrition and under diagnose overweight and obesíty measuríng 270 grams less than the qualified team (p <0.001) and 1.7 cm more in height (p <0.001), what is reflected in a difference of less than one point in body mass index (p <0.001). Discrepancies in height and body mass índex were higher in extreme valúes. Conclusions: There is a low agreement between the measurements taken by the research team and teachers. Even though there are discrepancies between measurements, high levéis of overweight and low prevalences of stunting and underweight are kept, reílecting problems with exactitude, but not bias. Corrective actions to improve the quality of information, which should include training programs for teachers, instrument maintenance, supervisión and verification system for data entry, are needed.