OBJECTIVE: To compare the nutritional status of schoolchildren according to three different reference curves. METHODS: The weight and height of 181 children aged 5-10 years were obtained from a database for the nutritional surveillance of schoolchildren from Paquetá Island, RJ, Brazil, which had been designed in compliance with recommendations of the Brazilian Food and Nutrition Surveillance System (Sistema de Vigilância Alimentar e Nutricional, Sisvan). Bland-Altman plot and deviation ratios were used to produce profiles of agreement between pairs of nutritional assessment references using body mass index values. Cutoff values of the following standards were used in order to determine the prevalence of overweight and weight and height deficit: Cole, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and Conde & Monteiro. RESULTS: The prevalence rates for obesity in girls were similar using the Cole and Conde & Monteiro (3.1%) cutoffs, but the prevalence rate according to the CDC standard was significantly lower (2.0%). For boys, the prevalence of obesity using the Conde & Monteiro cutoff (4.8%) was lower than the rates obtained using the cutoffs suggested by Cole (7.2%) and by the CDC (7.2%). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that the choice of the Brazilian reference curve (Conde & Monteiro) does not impair the comparison with other international standards, particularly for obesity in male schoolchildren.
Overweight; obesity; nutritional surveillance; child
