Journal of Obesity & Weight Loss Therapy
Open Access

Abstract

Statement of the Problem: Childhood obesity has been growing in the world in alarming numbers; Brazil is among the countries where this growth calls attention. In the last 20 years, the number of obesity has increased more than four times among children of five to nine years of age. The literature on infant nutrition points out that the development of food preferences that define the pattern of feeding in childhood is determined by the family. Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Data analysis of questionnaire was applied to one of the parents of 70 children between two to eight years of age. The classification of the nutritional status of the children was carried out applying the curves of Body Mass Index (BMI) for the age of the World Health Organization. The chi-square statistical test was used. Findings: Of the 70 children, who participated in the study, 51.4% were eutrophic, 21.4% were obese, 18.6% were overweight and 8.6% were lean. Among those classified as overweight and obese in 85.7% of the cases at least one of the parents were obese or overweight by the BMI (p=0.0483). Regarding the total sample of participants, when parents were asked if they had offered children candies before two years of age, 81.4% parents had offered. Of these, 10% assumed that children consuming sweets practically every day, while 38.6% stated that they only allowed consumption eventually in cases of celebrations. Conclusion & Significance: In this study, we can see that the vast majority of overweight children had at least one parent in the same condition. It is of fundamental importance that parents are aware that their habits directly influence the eating behavior of their children and that the high supply of candies, foods of known low nutritional value, early in life may be determinant for the creation of taste buds and food preferences that are not adequate in this and that have contributed to the development of obesity in childhood.

Biography

Cláudia Araújo da Rocha Benevides has completed her Graduation in Medicine in 2004 from Federal University of Para (Brazil) and Post-graduation in Nutrology from Faculty of Medical Sciences of Holy House of São Paulo in 2013. She completed her MBA in Health Management. She has published a lot of papers in medical journals.

Email: claudiaaraujo80@gmail.com