Evolution of nutritional status and risk for metabolic syndrome in schoolchildren of Porto Alegre, Brazil: Follow-up of 4 years

Introduction:
Obesity in childhood and adolescence is a public health problem worldwide, both for risk of its maintenance until adulthood as the early onset of chronic diseases.

Objective:
To verify the evolution of nutritional status and risk of metabolic syndrome in children over four years.

Methods:
The study included 235 children (38.7% male), whose nutritional status was evaluated in 2008 and 2012 in the schools of Porto Alegre, Brazil. In the first assessment, the students were aged between 7 and 10 years old (8.9 ±1.05), and in the second between 10 and 14 years old (12.3 ±1.05). Assessment included weight, height and waist circumference. Nutritional status was estimated by BMI for age and gender (WHO, 2007), and the risk for metabolic syndrome by the waist-to-height ratio, with local cutoff points (Costa et al, 2012).

Results:
For boys, underweight remained at 1.1% in both surveys, overweight increased from 13.2% to 16.5% and obesity from 12.1% to 17.6%. For girls, underweight increased from 0% to 2.1%, overweight decreased from 19.4% to 14.6%, and obesity increased from 13.2% to 20.1%. Although there was no statistical difference between two periods, 19.8% of boys and 18.7% of girls worsened their nutritional status. The risk for metabolic syndrome increased from 6.6% to 7.7%, and 9.7% to 13.9% among boys and girls, respectively.

Conclusion:
Results showed a trend of increasing prevalence of obesity and risk for metabolic
syndrome in the transition from childhood to adolescence.