Brazilian children are taller and more obese, study shows; understand risks

Brazilian children are becoming more tall and obeseaccording to a study published in March by the scientific journal The Lancet Regional Health – Americas. The survey analyzed the measures of more than five million children and found an average growth of 1 cm in child height and more than 2% in the prevalence of obesity between both sexes.

The work, conducted by researchers from the Center for Data and Knowledge Integration for Health (Cidacs/Fiocruz Bahia), together with the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) and University College London, an English higher education institution, analyzed data from children in 3 to 10 years old, born between 2001 and 2014.

These data were obtained from three administrative systems: the Single Registry for Social Programs of the Federal Government (CadÚnico), the Live Birth Information System (Sinasc) and the Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (Sisvan). This methodology, in itself, already demonstrates that administrative data can be a powerful tool for scientific production, according to researcher Carolina Vieira, who led the study.

To carry out the analysis, the data was separated into two groups: children born between 2001 and 2007, and between 2008 and 2014. Thus, by comparing the trends of both groups, it was possible to reach some conclusions:

• Regarding height, children of both sexes presented a 1 cm increase on the average growth trajectory;
• As for the body mass index (BMI), a measure that relates each individual’s weight and height, there was a subtle increase in both genders. In boys, an increase of 0.06 kg per m2 was observed and in girls, 0.04 kg per m2;
• When analyzing the overweight in the age group of 5 to 10 years, there was an increase in the prevalence of this factor in both sexes, especially boys. For them, there was an increase of 3.2%, while for girls the increase was 2.7%. In children of 3 and 4 years, the scenario was similar, but milder. In boys, this growth was 0.9%, while in girls it was 0.8%.
• Concerning obesity of children from 5 to 10 years, the prevalence of this factor increased by 2.7% in boys and 2.1% in girls. In younger children, 3 and 4 years old, there was also an increase, but less expressively. In boys, growth was 0.5% and in girls, 0.3%.

What do these results mean?

According to Carolina, these are worrying findings, especially those related to obesity.

This is considered a chronic disease and one of the biggest public health problems in the world. According to Crésio Alves, president of the Department of Endocrinology at the Brazilian Society of Pediatrics (SBP), obese children have a high chance of developing other types of problems in the long term, such as changes in cholesterol and triglycerides; arterial hypertension; type 2 diabetes; cerebrovascular accident (CVA); and even some types of cancer

According to the researcher who led the research, the trend of increasing prevalence of obesity in children is related to new dietary patterns, richer in ultra-processed foods, in addition to sedentary behaviors. Therefore, according to her, Brazil is far from reaching the goal of World Health Organization (WHO) to stop the increase in the prevalence of obesity by 2030.

On the other hand, the observed height growth trend is seen as positive. According to the researcher, being taller is associated with better health outcomes, such as a lower likelihood of heart disease, stroke and greater longevity. According to the expert, this change reflects economic development and improvements in living conditions in past years. / WITH INFORMATION FROM FIOCRUZ AGENCY