[Effect of a School Breakfast Program on the prevalence of obesity and cardiovascular risk factors in children].
OBJECTIVE
To determine the effect of a School Breakfast Program on obesity and some cardiovascular risk factors in 6 to 10 year old schoolchildren.


METHODS
A quasi-experimental prospective study was conducted in 2002-2003, in 17 municipalities of Sonora State, Mexico. The intervention group consisted of 254 children participating in a School Breakfast Program (SBP group). The control group (NSBP group, n=106) included children who did not participate in the program. In both groups the body mass index for age (BMI/age) and body composition by electrical resistance using bioelectrical bioimpedance analysis (BIA) were estimated at the beginning and at the end of a 9-month period. In a subgroup of 264 school-children (SBP and NSBP children), serum cholesterol, triglycerides and fasting glucose were measured at the start and at the end of the program.


RESULTS
The body mass index in the SBP and NSBP groups was not different at the start or at the end of the school period (p>0.05). The proportion of overweight and obese children and the percentage fat remained similar in both groups. However, the lean mass increased (p>0.05) at the end of the school period in both groups, and hence, cannot be attributed to the program. The biochemical parameters showed no change (p>0.05) in blood glucose, total serum cholesterol, and triglycerides in either group at the end of the school period.


CONCLUSIONS
Study results showed no evidence of a negative effect of SBP in terms of risk factors for obesity and cardiovascular disease.
Ramírez-López
Erik
E
Centro de Investigación en Alimentación y Desarrollo, AC, Hermosillo, Sonora, México.
Grijalva-Haro
María Isabel
MI
Valencia
Mauro E
ME
Antonio Ponce
José
J
Artalejo
Elizabeth
E
D001823:Body Composition; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology; D002648:Child; D004435:Eating; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008800:Mexico; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000517:prevention & control*; D015995:Prevalence; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012307:Risk Factors; D012574:Schools