Prevalence of Obesity in a Sample of Schoolchildren from Municipalized Schools in the IX Region of Chile 2008-2009

Abstract

Obesity is a prevalent disease in Chile. The multitude of cause factors makes it a complex disease and therefore very difficult to treat, since its roots lie in the earliest stages of life. We evaluated pupils from 21 municipalized primary schools, in rural and urban communities from the 10 districts of the IX Region. The sample consisted of 275 subjects in Kindergarten and first year primary school in the year 2008, who were monitored over two years. The results show a trend indicating an increase in the prevalence of obesity in the sample, the difference being statistically significant, p=0.000.These results show that obesity is increasing, and that more action is needed to slow this disease occurring from early childhood.