Prevalence of overweight and obesity in schoolchildren of high socioeconomic level in Londrina, Paraná, Brazil

OBJECTIVE: To verify the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 7 to 10 year old schoolchildren of both sexes and high socioeconomic level. METHODS: Five hundred and eleven schoolchildren (274 boys and 237 girls) were submitted to anthropometrical measurements of body mass, stature and subscapular and triceps skin-fold thickness. Body mass indexes >85th percentile and 95th percentile were adopted as indicators of obesity. The socioeconomic level was established based on information obtained from a questionnaire, considering the degree of education of the parents and the familiar consumables. RESULTS: The total prevalence for overweight was 19.7% for the boys and 17.3% for the girls, with no significant differences amongst ages and sexes (p>0.05). On the other hand, the prevalence for obesity in the boys and girls was 17.5% and 9.3%, respectively, with significant differences between the sexes at 9 years (p0,05). Por outro lado, a prevalência de obesidade em meninos e meninas foi de 17,5% e 9,3%, respectivamente, com diferenças significantes entre os sexos aos nove (p<0,01) e dez anos (p<0,05), bem como no conjunto de todas as idades (p