Changes in nutritional status in children from La Habana with overweight and obesity in two years of a follow-up study

Introduction: The obesity in children and adolescents is frequently in young ages. In Cuba it has increased in the last years, and there are not very frequent the anthropometrics investigations in longitudinal studies of the nutritional status in children with overweight and obesity. Objective: The general objective of the investigation is the comparison of the changes in the nutritional status of scholars of Havana with overweight and obese that were track two years after the initial evaluation in a follow-up study. Methods: Anthropometric measures were weight, height, and waist circumference, to all the 461 children from 9 to 12 years of age in four school of four municipalities of Havana. The students overweight or obese in the elementary school were 155 and were evaluated again in high school 89 of them, after two years of follow-up. The Wilcoxon test was used for the classifications of the body mass index (BMI) and the waist circumference. Results and discussion: The test of Wilcoxon for the classifications of the BMI for sex demonstrated that at the end of the investigation 77% of boys and 57 % of girls remain with obesity. In the classification of circumference persisted an excess of fat in the central region, more frequently in males Conclusions: In two years of follow-up, a high percentage of overweight and obese children remained. It's important to conduct periodic studies of monitoring nutritional status due to the high frequencies reported and the negative health implications. It is necessary to increase and improve obesity prevention strategies, involving educational actions in school, family and community.