Prevalence of overweight (OW) and obesity (O) in children attending the paedriatric unit of the Clínica Las Condes

Abstract

Obesity has increased among Chilean children, with the long-term health risks associated. 

Aim: to study the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children followed up at the paedriatric unit of a private health center, Clínica Las Condes (CLC), in Chile. 

Patients and methods: a one- year prospective study of 1310 children, mean age 7,19 ± 4,02 years, 51,6% males. Age, sex, weight and height were recorded, BMI (kg/m2, absolute and corresponding percentile) and %weight/height (%W/H) was calculated. 

Results: Age distribution in the sample was 45,7% between 2-5 years, 29,5% 6-10 years and 24,8% older than 10 years. 66,8% had normal weight, OW 13,9%, O 12% and underweight (UW) 7,3%, without differences for gender or age. 

Conclusiones: The prevalence of UW, OW and O children are similar to those provided from low to medium low income populations in Chile. The largest prevalence of OW and O children was found in the 6-10 year range, and reinforces the necessity of education in healthy habits of nutrition and activity to prevent the development of abnormal weight during the school years.