Índice de massa corporal e fatores associados em escolares de um município do semiárido paraibano.

Abstract

It is obvious that the Body Mass Index (BMI) detects the low weight and/or malnutrition and excess body weight. This index can be influenced by demographic factors and eating habits. The study aimed to investigate the BMI and the associated factors in students from Cajazeiras – PB.This is a cross-sectional study with quantitative approach, conducted with 692 students from public and private schools of the urban and rural areas, from 6th to 9th grade, drawn. Was used for data collection a questionnaire from Global-basedStudent Health Survey (GSHS), proposed by the WHO (2006) and a form designed specifically for this purpose. For the data analysis used the Statistic Package of Social Scienses> 18.0 (SPSS).All stages of the research followed faithfully the resolution 446/12 of the National Health Council (CNS). The students were aged from 10 to 15 years old when they were submitted to the interview. According to the sociodemographic characteristics, most of the students were female and practiced Catholicism as religion. According to the BMI, the greater prevalence were theeutrophic64.3%and the excess weight presented a percentage of 29.8%. According to the eating habits 4.9% said they had already suffered from hunger, 7.4% do not eat fruits and 21.4% do not eat vegetables, 23,8% drink soft drinks twice a day and 9.8% consumefast food at least seven times during the week.It was evidenced that the socioeconomic factors and eating habits affect the quality of nutritional status. It is important to prevent health problems in young age.