Prevalence of overweight and childhood obesity among infants, preschool and school children in a coverage area oh the PET-HEALTH

Introduction: Obesity is part of the group of not transmissible chronic disease that constitutes a major health problem worldwide due to the high occurrence of diseases in adulthood. Objectives: Recognize the prevalence of overweight and obesity in children aged zero to ten years belonging to units of the Estratégia de Saúde da Familia of Criciúma, which are located in a coverage area of the PET- Saúde II. Methodology: Transversal study descriptive analytical, quantitative and observational. The research was conducted with teams Estratégia de Saúde da Família of neighborhoods São Simão, Santa Barbara, Vila Belmiro e Brasilia the municipality of Criciuma (SC), were evaluated where all children in the age group of zero to ten years from April 2010 until April 2011. Results: The research has resulted in a number of 871 children aged zero to ten years. Our study showed that 73.4% of children were nourished. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 8.2% and 2.5% respectively. Among the female children, the prevalence of overweight was 6.4% and
1% of obesity. In males, was 9.7% for overweight and obesity 3.9%. Conclusion: This study showed that the majority of children is within normal limits, as well as in studies that we compared. There is a higher proportion of overweight and obesity in relation to undernutrition in all age groups, and the prevalence is higher in males.