Association Between Body Mass Index of Food Caregivers and Anthropometric Measurements Children from 7 to 12 years old

Abstract

Objective: To assess the relationship between BMI of infant caregivers in family environment and the percentile of body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (CC) and percentage of body fat (%BF) of children from 7 to 12 years old.

Method: A cross-sectional study, with descriptive and exploratory feature. Four hundred and sixty students, 424 main caregivers and 354 secondary caregivers of public and private school in the metropolitan region of Porto Alegre – RS participated in this study. The main caregiver is the main responsible for the child food supply. The secondary is the one who, in the absence of the main one, would be the responsible for the food supply. The statistical analysis was performed with chi square test for proportions and calculation of prevalence ratios.

Results and Conclusion: The majority of main caregivers were mothers. Those who had BMI >= 30 had association for all variables. This effect was higher in girls than in boys. Regarding secondary caregivers, the majority was the father. We observed that the BMI > 30 was an association factor for excess of body fat, central obesity and obesity in children. We have also seen that there is a 5% positive correlation between the BMI of caregivers and the anthropometric measures of children, corroborating data from the international literature.