Association between dietary intake, physical activity, socioeconomic factors and body fat percentage among schoolchildren

The scope of this article was to assess the association between dietary intake, physical activity and socioeconomic factors associated with body fat percentage in 7 to 14-year-old schoolchildren. It is a cross-sectional study with a probability sample of 2,481 students from public and private schools in Florianopolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil. Body fat percentage was investigated by measuring triceps and subscapular skin folds. Poisson regression was performed to test the association between excess body fat and independent variables, estimating prevalence ratios and 95% confidence intervals. The prevalence of excess body fat was 23.9%, though there was no significant difference between sex (p = 0.359) and age (p = 0.202). Excess body fat was associated with different factors in 11 to 14-year-old schoolchildren, namely eating less than three meals a day (OR = 1.62, CI: 1.38 to 1.91) and consumption of highrisk food more than 3 times a day (OR = 0.61 CI: 0.47 to 0.79). No significant difference was observed with physical activity. The high prevalence of excess body fat detected reveals the need for fostering the adoption of healthier behavioral practices (in relation to nutrition and physical activity) by schoolchildren.