Prevalence of underweight, overweight and obesity in poor children from Mato Grosso do Sul

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obesity among children who were beneficiaries of the Brazil's conditional cash transfer program Bolsa Família during 2010, according to gender and health in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul, Brazil. METHODS: Descriptive epidemiological study was conducted with a secondary database of Datasus/Sisvan. The data from 19,289 children (9,451 girls and 9,838 boys), aged 5 to 10 years, who benefited from the program Bolsa Família in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul in 2010 were collected. The variables were body weight and height. Body mass index was analyzed with Z-scores of normative tables from the World Health Organization. RESULTS: The prevalence of underweight was 4.8% among female and 5.6% among male participants. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was, respectively, 14.8 and 9.1% for female participants and 16.1 and 11.9% for male participants. The prevalence of underweight and obesity was lower in cities/towns with a lower Human Development Index, for female and male individuals. The prevalence of overweight in cities/towns with a lower Human Development Index was lower among female participants and higher among male participants. CONCLUSIONS: The higher prevalence of overweight among individuals of lower socioeconomic status indicates the need for understanding macro-factors that can influence the children's nutritional status