Perfil nutricional de Escolares y Adolescentes en escuelas públicas y privadas, 2013

Abstract

With the emergence of excess weight as a\nrisk factor for chronic diseases, early detection of this risk\nfactor is important in children and adolescents.\nDetermine the nutritional status of children and\nadolescents attending public and private schools.\nThis was a cross-sectional,\ndescriptive and analytical study of a nationally\nrepresentative sample of children and adolescents 5-19\nyears of age in public and private schools. Nutritional\nassessment was performed by anthropometry (BMI scores\nand Age/height measurements) according to WHO\ncriteria. We evaluated a total of 8,799 subjects,\nwith a mean age of 12.4 years; 49.4% were female; 69.3%\nattended public schools. Malnutrition was present in 2%;\n18.4% were overweight, and obesity was present in 11.1%.\nShort stature for age was found in 3.3%. There was a higher\npercentage of obesity in boys (12.9% vs 9.3%; ÷2 p\n<0.00001), in those attending private schools (14.8% vs\n9.4%; ÷2 p <0.00001) and in the 5-9 years of age group\n(13.6% vs 9.2%; ÷2 p <0.00001) Being\noverweight is the main nutritional problem in children\nand adolescents, with a higher prevalence in males in\nprivate-sector schools and in the 5-9 years of age group.