OBJECTIVE: To verify the prevalence of overweight and obesity in 7 to 10 year old schoolchildren of both sexes and high socioeconomic level. METHODS: Five hundred and eleven schoolchildren (274 boys and 237 girls) were submitted to anthropometrical measurements of body mass, stature and subscapular and triceps skin-fold thickness. Body mass indexes >85th percentile and <95th percentile were used to determine overweight, whereas body mass indexes >95th percentile were adopted as indicators of obesity. The socioeconomic level was established based on information obtained from a questionnaire, considering the degree of education of the parents and the familiar consumables. RESULTS: The total prevalence for overweight was 19.7% for the boys and 17.3% for the girls, with no significant differences amongst ages and sexes (p>0.05). On the other hand, the prevalence for obesity in the boys and girls was 17.5% and 9.3%, respectively, with significant differences between the sexes at 9 years (p<0.01) and 10 years (p<0.05) of age, as well as amongst the entire group of ages (p<0.01). CONCLUSION: The results indicated a high prevalence ratio for overweight (~19%) and obesity (~14%), much greater than the average for the 7-10 year old Brazilian population. Therefore, different from that observed in developed countries, a high socioeconomic level seems to negatively affect the prevalence for overweight and obesity, increasing the risk of the precocious development of metabolic dysfunctions.
child; food habits; obesity; prevalence
