PREVALENCIA Y FACTORES DE RIESGO ASOCIADOS AL SOBREPESO Y OBESIDAD INFANTIL DURANTE EL CONFINAMIENTO POR EL COVID-19

Abstract

Objective: To determine the frequency and risk factors associated with childhood overweight and obesity in preschool and school- aged children attending a health center during the mandatory COVID-19 lockdown. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional, and prospective study was conducted with a population of 154 children aged 2 to 12 years who were seen at the Pediatrics
Department of the Ciudad Nueva Health Center. Data was obtained from the children's medical records, with prior institutional authorization, and from surveys administered to parents or guardians, using an instrument validated by experts. Children seen
between November 2021 and April 2022 were included if their parent/guardian agreed to participate in the study after providing informed consent. Children with incomplete surveys or anthropometric data, those with endocrine diseases such as Cushing's syndrome, thyroid diseases (hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism), diabetes mellitus, or comorbidities affecting their nutritional and physical status were excluded. The data obtained was processed in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS V 22.0) and PSPP software. Results: The prevalence of overweight and obesity in preschoolers was 14.0% and 12.0%, respectively, and in the school stage was 8.7% and 59.6%. Factors with a highly significant association were male sex, more than 2 hours of screen time, low weekly physical activity, eating more than 5 times a day, low vegetable consumption, and high carbohydrate consumption.
Conclusions: The prevalence of overweight was 10.4% and obesity was 44.2% in the child population studied. Behavioral factors, such as insufficient physical activity and inadequate eating habits, were identified as the main determinants of this public health problem.