OBESIDADE INFANTIL: PREVALÊNCIA, HÁBITOS DE VIDA, ALTERAÇÕES METABÓLICAS E QUALIDADE DE VIDA EM ESCOLARES DO PONTAL DO ARAGUAIA - MT.

Abstract

Obesity is classified as a chronic non transmissible disease, the same as cardiovascular diseases, diabetes and neoplasms. Due to precocious atherosclerosis lesions, the obese child has a higher probability of developing cardiovascular, metabolic or neoplastic diseases when adult. Besides all physical problems, obesity

stigmatization, which leads to social, psychological and behavioral problems. This study drew the nutritional profile and determined the life habits of obese students from a sample of 125 children, ages 7 to 12 years, from a public elementary school in the town of Pontal do Araguaia, state of Mato Grosso , Brazil. Possible biochemical alterations that lead to metabolic alteration were sought, as well as their relationship with gender. Alterations were analyzed in: total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL cholesterol, glucose, uric acid and insulin. In addition, the quality of life of the selected group of obese children with that of an eutrophic group selected from the same sample of 125 children, using the AUQEI (Autoquestionnaire Qualité de Vie Enfant Imagé) scale. The results showed that 18% of the children were obese, 12% were overweight, 64.5% had normal weight and 5,5% were underweight. Unhealthy habits may have contributed to the obesity, e.g., having an overweight person in the family (75%), eating candies between the main meals (60%) and having the main meals in the living room, watching TV (60%). Biochemical alterations were identified in at least two analyzed parameters for 40% of the obese. The most altered metabolite was total cholesterol, which was elevated in 50% of the obese. Several metabolites were more compromised in boys than in girls, with significant a difference at p<0.05. The fact that alterations were verified in most children suggests a tendency to express metabolic syndrome. The eutrophic children had a better quality of life, with an average score of 52.55, while the obese group presented an average score of 47.50 (p<0.05). Furthermore, the quality of life of the obese children was below the cutoff point of 48. We conclude that the metabolism and the quality of life are impaired in the obese group. The prevalence of child obesity in the sample is similar to that found in other regions of the country. The presence of non-healthy habits can influence the susceptibility to obesity. We suggest that national efforts need to be made to prevent and treat child obesity by implementing public health and educational programs, aiming to reduce the negative impacts that obesity has on the child, which impair their physical and emotional health.