Childhood Obesity and Nutrition

Biography

Biography: Cláudia Araújo da Rocha Benevides

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Childhood obesity has been growing in the world in alarming numbers, Brazil is among the countries where this growth calls attention, in the last 20 years the number of obese among children 5 and 9 years has increased more than 4 times. The literature on infant nutrition points out that the development of food preferences that define the pattern of feeding in childhood is determined by the family. Methology & Theoretical Orientation: Data analysis of questionnaire applied to one of the parents of 70 children between 2 years and 8 years. The classification of the nutritional status of the children was carried out applying the curves of Body Mass Index (BMI) for the age of the World Health Organization. The Chi-Square statistical test was used. Findings: Of the 70 children who participated in the study, 51.4% were eutrophic, 21.4% were obese, 18.6% were overweight and 8.6% were lean. Among those classified as overweight and obese in 85.7% of the cases at least one of the parents were obese or overweight by the BMI (p = 0.0483). Regarding the total sample of participants, when parents were asked if they had offered children candies before age 2, 81.4% had offered. Of these, 10% assumed that children consuming sweets practically every day, while 38.6% stated they only allowed consumption eventually in cases of celebrations. Conclusion & Significance: In this study we can see that the vast majority of overweight children had at least one parent in the same condition, it is of fundamental importance that parents are aware that their habits directly influence the eating behavior of their children and that the high supply of  candies, foods of known low nutritional value, early in life may be determinant for the creation of taste buds and food preferences that are not adequate in this and that have contributed to the development of obesity in childhood.