Anthropometric evaluation of pre-school and school age children from Azores archipelago, Portugal

Abstract

Childhood obesity is associated with immediate adverse consequences, such as lower self-esteem and lower educational attainment, and a higher risk for many harmful comorbidities later in life, such as type 2 diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, hypertension, and coronary heart disease. A cross-sectional analysis to assess the prevalence of normal weight, overweight, and obesity in pre-school and school children from Azores archipelago was designed. The final sample size included 1069 participants (546 boys and 523 girls) aged between 3.00 and 9.99 years old. Significant differences were found when the analysis was performed considerating overweight and obese as the same category, demonstrating that girls were heavier than boys. Also, girls presented higher BMI than boys specifically at age 6, 7, and 9 years old. The odds ratio of presenting overweight or obese were significantly higher for girls and participants with 4, 6, and 9 years old. Finally, children from the island of Faial demonstrated a lower prevalence of overweight and/or obesity when considering the island of São Miguel as a reference. Our results reveal a high prevalence of obesity mainly among female participants, heightening the need for interventions at early ages, mainly in this population, to effectively control childhood obesity in Portugal.