Prevalência de sobrepeso e obesidade em crianças de

Introduction: obesity is a disorder of nutritional status that is difficult to treat and related to increasing in adipose tissue with consequent elevation of body weight. The population has shown a high prevalence of overweight and among the causes to explain this weight increase are changes in lifestyle and eating habits. Objectives: to evaluate the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children of four State schools in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais. Methods: this was a cross-sectional and observational study consisting of 194 students, aged between seven and nine years, attending four State schools in Belo Horizonte. Anthropometric (height and weight) and some life habits data were obtained. Indicators proposed by the World Health Organization (WHO) were used as a reference for the data analysis to obtain the prevalence of overweight and obesity. Results: there was certain homogeneity in the distribution between age groups and female predominance over males. Out of the examined children, 20.1% are in the overweight range, 13.9% are girls and 6.2% are boys. Meanwhile, 16.0% of children were considered obese; 10.8% are girls, and 5.2% are boys. Conclusion: the number of overweight children is significant and troubling, which indicates the need for targeted actions to prevent and treat this important public health problem.