OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between obesity and dyslipidemia in adolescents from public and private schools in Campina Grande, PB, Brazil. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 180 adolescents, aged between 14 and 17 years, enrolled in the public and private school system of Campina Grande-PB. The nutritional status was classified according to the percentiles of Body Mass Index for gender and age. A blood sample was taken to evaluate the lipid profile (total cholesterol, HDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride levels). Dyslipidemia was considered when at least one of the blood parameters exceeded reference limits. Statistical analysis was performed with Epi Info 3.3 and Stata 7.0. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight was 14.4%, while 83.9% of students were normal and 1.7% presented low weight. The nutritional status, when stratified by gender and type of school, did not show statistically significant differences. Dyslipidemia was present in 66.7% of students and inadequate levels of HDL-cholesterol in 56.7% of them. The tertiles of Body Mass Index were associated with total cholesterol and the LDL-cholesterol fraction, even when stratified by gender and type of school. CONCLUSIONS: Considering the age range of the sample, the results for overweight and dyslipidemias are of concern. There is a need to implement more effective policies oriented towards these adolescents to prevent children and adolescents becoming obese adults with other chronic diseases.
Adolescent; Nutritional status; Overweight; Dyslipidemia; Hyperlipidemia
