[The nutritional status of schoolchildren living in the semi-arid area of northern Brazil].
OBJECTIVE
This study was aimed at describing the nutritional status of 10 to 17 year old children enrolled in public and private schools from different regions having specific Brazilian semi-arid area characteristics.


METHODS
This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative study using a stratified probability sample (n=1 701). 900 children were male and 801 female selected from three cities, randomly chosen from 3 cities which were representative of the regions: Leste Potiguar-RLP (n=1,158), Oeste Potiguar-ROP (n=312) and Central Potiguar-RCP (n=231). They were divided into three age groups: 10 to 12 years, 13 and 14 years and e(3)15 years. Conde and Monteiro cutoff points were used for body mass index (BMI) classification.


RESULTS
Regarding the regions, there was a significant difference (p<0001) in BMI distribution. RLP presented excess weight and obesity (6.8 %, 15.2 %), ROP (16.3 %, 9.6 %) and RCP (10.4 %, 3.9 %), respectively.


CONCLUSIONS
Adolescents in the most favored regions (especially students in private schools in the region) had a prevalence of being overweight and suffering from obesity.
da Silva
João B
JB
Departamento de Educação Física, Universidade do Estado do Rio Grande do Norte UERN. joaobatista@uern.br
da Silva
Francisco Gama
FG
de Medeiros
Humberto J
HJ
Roncalli
Angelo G
AG
Knackfuss
Maria I
MI
D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002980:Climate; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology