Obesity in school children. An approach from the social perspective of primary health care

The purpose of this study was to analyze the obesity in school-age children from the social and the multidisciplinary perspective of the primary health care. The methodological approach of the research was quantitative, descriptive type and non-experimental cross-sectional design. The sample was represented by 113 children who attended the general practice of public primary health care facility, located in the Municipality of Maracaibo, Zulia State, aged between 7 and 11 years old. The technique of data collection was the survey and the interview, the first one through standardized formats of the Integral Health Record and the nutritional record as valid instruments; likewise, research included a qualitative phase where it was applied interviews to children in the sample studied by social work professionals seconded to the health center. As a result, from the total number of children included in the study, 50 of them were diagnosed as obese, representing the 35% of the sample. As finding in the interviews to children by social workers, the main social factors that promote the development of obesity in this age group are revealed. As a reflection, it is necessary to approach the problem from a multidisciplinary team composed by doctors, nurses, social workers, outreach workers, nutritionists, dietitians, psychologists and educators, so that each one brings intervention strategies to solve social problems from their point of view.