Obesity and overweight in schools: the importance of diagnosis to subsidiate health promotion initiatives in school space

Currently the health of the child has been affected by the transformations resulting from the urban lifestyle, mainly in relation to diet and physical activity. Reflexes of these changes are observed in the substantial increase of overweight and obesity in the infanto-juvenil group. In a survey conducted by POF between 2008-2009, it was found that overweight and obesity in children aged five to nine years was 33.5% and 14.3%, respectively. In this direction, this study aimed to investigate the lifestyle of overweight schoolchildren of a public institution in the city of Diamantina / MG. For that, 40 children aged between 7 and 11 years enrolled in the full time period were selected. Overweight / obese children were selected using the BMI / p> 85 parameter proposed by the Brazilian Ministry of Health. Socioeconomic questionnaires were also applied with those responsible for the students. The data revealed that these schoolchildren were mostly brown, from low or middle income families, with sedentary lifestyle and with moderate consumption of processed and ultraprocessed products. It is concluded that their lifestyle presents itself as a risk factor for the development of chronic non-communicable diseases. Thus, the study shows that the monitoring of nutritional status, food consumption and energy expenditure are fundamental to subsidize actions to promote health in the school environment, and should be encouraged at the local level through the establishment of intersectoral partnerships with the aim to prevent and / or control overweight in this group.