International studies have shown that the increase in the prevalence of overweight children has become a public health problem. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of overweight in preschool children aged from 0 to 6 years enrolled in public daycare centers in Florianópolis, Southern Brazil. In addition, we tested the hypothesis that the prevalence of overweight children is higher in areas with better socio-economic conditions than in deprived areas. A multi-stage random sampling procedure was performed and the final sample included 638 pre-schoolchildren. Anthropometric measures, sex, age, birth weight, gestational age, stature deficit, child residential area (affluent or deprived), and daily number of free meals in the daycare centers were the variables collected by a trained and calibrated team. The outcome overweight was obtained by the weight/height index, following the NCHS criteria. Univariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to test the hypothesis. The prevalence of obesity was 8.6% (CI 95% 6.4-10.8). The final logistic model showed that children living in affluent areas present OR 1.94 (CI 95% 1.10-3.42) when compared to children living in deprived areas. This result was adjusted for possible confounders such as child gender. Children living in affluent areas are considered a risk group for overweight. Consequently, nutritional public health programs must target this population.
Overweight; Pre-school-children; Child weight; Stature; Daycare centers
