title: Prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity and associated factors in Peru.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of and factors associated with childhood overweight and obesity among a cohort of children 7-8 years of age in Peru.
  
  
  METHODS
  This was a cross-sectional secondary analysis of data from the Young Lives longitudinal study of childhood poverty. The sample was a cohort of 1 737 children 7-8 years of age in 2009. Prevalence of overweight and obesity was assessed using body mass index-forage Z-scores. Logistic regression was used to determine associations with a number of individual, household, and community factors.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Prevalences of overweight and obesity were 19.2% and 8.6%, respectively. A prevalence of 32.0% and 23.5% overweight and obesity was found among males and females, respectively. High socioeconomic status, living in Lima, having a mother who was overweight or obese, being male, and being an only child or having only one sibling were associated with being overweight and obese at this age.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows a high prevalence of childhood and maternal overweight and obesity in Peru. In contrast to findings in many high-income countries, the findings in Peru indicate that children from wealthier households were more likely to be overweight or obese than those from poorer households. In addition, there is something particularly obesogenic about the Lima environment that merits further investigation, and several key issues to consider when targeting future interventions and research.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom, emma.c.preston@mail.mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Emma C
authors.initials: EC
authors.lastname: Preston
authors.affiliation: Department of International Development, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Proochista
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Ariana
authors.affiliation: Instituto de Investigación Nutricional, Lima, Peru.
authors.forename: Mary E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Penny
authors.affiliation: Oxford Institute of Population Aging, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Melanie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frost
authors.affiliation: Nuffield Department of Population Health, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: Emma
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Plugge
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010568:Peru / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors