Objectives:

To determine the prevalence of low weight, normal weight, overweight, and obesity among the school-age population in a Family Health Care Unit (USF) in the municipality of Portalegre and to determine whether there is a statistically significant difference between gender and weight, and between age and weight.

Type of study:

Cross-sectional, descriptive, and analytical observational study.

Location:

USF Portus Alacer, municipality of Portalegre.

Population:

USF Portus Alacer users [6-17 years old].

Methods:

Determination of the body mass index (BMI) of 448 children and adolescents [6-17 years old], surveyed at USF Portus Alacer between January 2017 and October 2018 [95% confidence interval (CI), 3.64% margin of error]. The participants were classified into four categories according to the BMI cut-off points established by the WHO for age and gender. The software used for data processing was SPSS® v. 25.0, Microsoft Office Excel®, and Sample Size Calculator by Raosoft®. The statistical tools used were the Chi-square test and the t-Student test. Normality was tested using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test.

Results:

Of the children evaluated, 52.7% were male. The median age was 12 years old. Excessive weight prevalence was 37.4%. The prevalence of overweight was 16.7%, higher in females, and obesity was 10.7%, slightly higher in males. The highest prevalence of overweight was observed at age seven. No statistically significant differences were found between gender and weight category, nor between ages regarding excessive weight.

Conclusions:

Despite the decrease in the prevalence of childhood obesity and overweight in Portugal in recent years, these entities represent a serious public health problem. In the municipality of Portalegre, the prevalence of excessive weight in children under 10 years old was higher compared to the data available in the literature. From 10 to 17 years old, the prevalence was lower.

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