Abstract:

Objective: to analyze the Body Mass Index secular trend of 20 years in schoolchildren from Ilhabela. Materials and Methods: sample is part of the Ilhabela Mixed-Longitudinal Project on Growth,Development and Physical Fitness. From a database of 16.000 schoolchildren of both sexes, 1094 students, aged between 7 to 10 years-old of both sexes met the inclusion criteria. The selected data were part of a database from 1990/1991, 2000/2001, and 2010/2011. The variables analyzed were: body mass (kg), body height (cm) and Body Mass Index (kg/m2). Children were categorized according to the nutritional status through the WHO body mass index curves for age, sex in severe thinness, normal, overweight, and obesity. The statistical analysis used was Chi-square, with p<0.05, and seven values of percentiles. Results: the evidence showed that in females, the prevalence of children classified as overweight had a significant decrease between 1990/1991 and 2010/2011 and between 2000/2001 and 2010/2011. On the other hand, the prevalence of obesity decreased significantly during the first decade, but increased significantly during the second decade. In males, there were not statistically significant differences. In both sexes, there were lower percentage distributions for the period 2000/2001. Conclusions: regardless of gender, the BMI showed a positive secular trend of 20 years for obesity and negative for overweight. When analyzed separately, the males showed no significant differences. Females showed a negative secular trend of 20 years for overweight and a positive secular trend of 10 years for obesity.

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