Abstract

ORDEN, Alicia; APEZTEGUIA, María  and  MAYER, Marcos. ACCELERATION AND STABILIZATION: DISPARITY IN OBESITY TREND IN SCHOOLCHILDREN FROM LA PAMPA, (ARGENTINA) BETWEEN 1990 AND 2016. Rev Arg Antrop Biol [online]. 2021, vol.23, n.1, pp.7-8. ISSN 1514-7991.  http://dx.doi.org/10.24215/18536387e028.

Despite the efforts launched by several organizations to reduce obesity, only some developed countries show either a slowdown or a leveling off in obesity rate. In this study we evaluated trends in body mass index (BMI) and rates of overweight (OW) and obesity (OB) in schoolchildren, from 1990 to 2016, together with their socioeconomic distribution. Three cross-sectional surveys conducted in 1990, 2005/07 and 2015/16 in schoolchildren from Santa Rosa (La Pampa, Argentina) were compared. The International Obesity Task Force (IOTF) reference was used to calculate standard deviation scores of BMI and define OW and OB categories. The type of school (public or private) was used as a measure of socioeconomic status (SES). The association of dependent variables with survey year, sex, and SES was analyzed by linear (BMI) and logistic regression (OW, OB) models. Temporal changes in OW and OB rates were assessed by Chi-squared test for trend among proportions. BMI, OW, and OB increased significantly throughout the period 1990-2016, resulting in one third of children with excessive weight. From 2005/07 to 2015/16 significant increases were seen only in children attending public schools. Trends were similar among boys and girls. It is concluded that the weight status of this schoolchildren population shows a non-linear but continuous pattern of increase, developed over the last 25 years, with stabilization in those children of higher SES in the last decade.

Keywords : Secular trend; child obesity; socioeconomic status; Argentina.

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