Childhood Obesity: The School And The Family Must Be Aware Of

Objectives: The objective of this research was to monitor, during 3 years, the variation (increase and/or decrease) of the body mass index (BMI) of the students of a school, in Salvador/BA, and evaluate the answer of the family to the parents' orientation service, about child obesity, offered by the school. Tools and Method: Annual gauging of the students' weight (kg) and height (m) in order to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI). The development of a multisubject content in the classroom about health, the control of the canteen by the students and meeting with the parents of the children in risk for orientation about control and treatment of the obesity. Results: The total prevalence of overweight was superior to the obesity among students. The overweight average over the three years among males was 16%, and among females was 22.33%. The obesity reached, along the three years the average of 2.66% among males and 3.66% among females. Only 7.5% of the parents of the students in a risk situation looked for the service of orientation offered by the school along the three years of the research. In this group of parents it was observed a high level of misinformation about the obesity and its consequences to the child's health. Conclusion: The reduction of the levels of overweight and obesity in the sample studied shows a positive influence of the school, nevertheless, the fact that the parents did not involve themselves did not optimize the results. Thus, we can conclude that the school and the family have a strong influence in the overweight situation among students.