Trends in underweight and excess of weight prevalence in a cohort of 4-to 6-year-old schoolchildren from Castilla-La Mancha

Introduction and objectives: The aims of this study were to: a) estimate the prevalence of overweight/obesity and thinness in a sample of schoolchildren which were born in 2007 and 2008 from Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, in the years 2013 and 2015; and b) examine the persistence, from 2013 to 2015, in the same weight status category in this cohort. Material and methods: Follow up study in which we analysed anthropometric variables in schoolchildren that were born in 2007 and 2008 during the years 2013 (4-6 years old) and 2015 (6-8 years old). We invited to participate all children belonging to third grade of pre-primary education and first grade of primary education of 21 schools from Cuenca and Ciudad Real provinces. Sociodemographic variables, weight, height and body fat percentage by electric bioimpedance were determined in all participants. Results: The prevalence of thinness, overweight and obesity at the baseline was 20.7%, 12% and 8.2%, respectively. After two years, the prevalence of thinness decreased to 14.7% and the prevalence of overweight and obesity increased to 15.4% and 8.4%, respectively. Besides, a 78.8% of schoolchildren remained at 2015 in the same weight status category that were in 2013. Conclusions: The increase in the prevalence of overweight/obesity in the Spanish schoolchildren might be levelling off; in parallel, thinness prevalence has substantially increased. Lastly, the weight status previous to adipose rebound tracks to school age.