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Revista Cubana de Pediatría

Print version ISSN 0034-7531

Abstract

JIMENEZ ACOSTA, Santa Magaly  and  RODRIGUEZ SUAREZ, Armando. Progression of the overweight in Cuban preschool children during a 10-year period. Rev Cubana Pediatr [online]. 2013, vol.85, n.4, pp.428-438. ISSN 0034-7531.

Introduction: overweight and obesity in children are reaching epidemic dimensions worldwide. Obesity is one of the main contributing factors to the global burden of chronic diseases, disability and extensive use of health services, hence the importance of preventing it since the earliest childhood. Objectives: to determine the progression of overweight prevalence in Cuban preschoolers and its geographic distribution throughout the country. Methods: data were collected from the sentinel sites for maternal and child nutritional surveillance. The selection of sentinel sites was based on expert criteria and they were placed in the highest and the lowest low birthweight index areas in each province. Several pieces of information about age, sex, place of residence, occupation category of the mother, weight and height were obtained. The nutritional assessment followed the WHO guidelines which consider every child with a weight for height or a body mass index for age exceeding + 2 typical deviations from the reference mean as overweighed child. The agreement between the prevalence of overweight and that of obesity were evaluated in children by using Cuban and WHO standards. The results achieved and the differences found in both periods were discussed. The periods of 2002 and 2011 were compared. Results: prevalence of overweight plus obesity in the children evaluated in 2002 was 14.7 % whereas in 2011 was 17.4 %. Increased prevalence was observed in 2011 in males; it was not associated to the occupational category of the mother; no significant differences were found when evaluating overweight and obesity according to the body mass index for age and weight for height Z-scores. Conclusions: overweight shows high rates in under five-years old children in Cuba, with increasing trends. This makes it necessary to take measures aimed at dietary and behavioral changes associated to physical activities, in order to prevent it since the early childhood and to reduce the onset of first complications.

Keywords : overweight; obesity; sentinel sites; body mass index; trend.

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