Excess weight and abdominal obesity in Galician children and adolescents

Abstract Introduction and objectives The excess of weight, mainly obesity, during childhood and adolescence increases morbimortality risk in adulthood. The aim of this article is to estimate both the overall prevalence, as well as according to age and gender, of underweight, overweight, obesity and abdominal obesity among schoolchildren aged between 6 and 15-years-old in the school year 2013–2014. Material and methods Data were taken from a cross-sectional community-based study carried out on a representative sample, by gender and age, of the Galician population aged between 6 and 15-years-old. The prevalence of underweight, overweight, and obese children (Cole's cut-off criteria) and abdominal obesity (Taylor's cut-off criteria) were estimated after performing objective measurements of height, weight and waist circumference at school. Results A total of 7438 students were weighed and measured in 137 schools. The prevalence of overweight and obese was 24.9% and 8.2%, respectively. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 25.8%, with 4% of children with normal weight having abdominal obesity. Conclusions These data highlight the need to promote primary prevention measures at early ages in order to decrease the occurrence of premature onset of disease in the future. The prevalence of excess weight is underestimated if abdominal obesity is not taken into consideration.