Hábitos alimentarios y actividad física en un grupo de escolares de la Ciudad de México. El modelaje

Background: The high prevalence of overweight among Mexican children is of concern because obesity in scholar age increases the risk of obesity in adult life and has negative effects on health due to its association with chronic-degenerative illnesses, such as diabetes mellitus and heart diseases, which may be prevented with a proper nutrition and physical activity since early ages. Objectives: 1) To document the existence of the aggregation phenomenon of family overweight in a schoolchildren group in Mexico City; 2) to analyze the relationship between parental modeling and feeding habits and physical activity performed by the schoolchildren. Material and methods: Cross-sectional, observational and analytical study performed with a convenience sample of children aged between 9 and 11 years old (n = 212). Among children, overweight was diagnosed when their BMI (body mass index) was greater than the 85 percentile in the Must tables, while in the mothers a BMI greater than 25 kg/m 2 was used as cut-off point. Separate questionnaires were applied to children and their mothers through whom several variables of interest were observed. Both mothers and children were asked about modeling practices for feeding habits, physical activities and amount of time employed by the children watching TV. Children were also questioned about their alimentary preferences and their physical activities. Results: Overweight prevalence among all schoolchildren was 48.5%. Overweight prevalence among children whose mothers had a normal weight (BMI less than 24.99) was 35.2%, while prevalence for children whose mothers had overweight grades I and II were 59.7 and 62.2% respectively; the differences were statistically significant (χ 2 =13.08, p=0.001). Both the children's and the mothers' reports Articulo original