Aumento do peso corporal em estudo com mais de 20.000 escolares de 0 a 15 anos da rede pública de ensino em Cascavel-Pr no período de 2016 a 2021. efeito da pandemia de COVID 19?

Abstract

Increase in Body Weight in a Study with more than 20,000 Schoolchildren from 0 to 15 Years of Public Education in Cascavel-PR from 2016 to 2021. Effect of the COVID-19 Pandemic? Introduction: Obesity is a global public health problem that has increased in younger age groups. The increased prevalence of overweight and obesity in the population of children and adolescents promotes the early disruption of glycemic and lipid homeostasis and accelerates the onset of chronic diseases such as diabetes and hypertension. School is an important environment for promoting health and forming healthy eating habits, therefore playing a central role in raising awareness and preventing excess weight in schoolchildren. The School Health Program (SHP) annually carries out prevention, promotion and health care actions for public school students, including anthropometric assessment, providing important parameters for analyzing the nutritional health of children and adolescents. The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic imposed social isolation as a central strategy in combating the disease, impacting the routine of millions of students in Brazil. A sedentary lifestyle and poor diet were accentuated during these periods and probably influenced body weight. Objective: To evaluate the increase in body weight in students from public schools in Cascavel-PR from 2016 to 2021 and the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: Longitudinal, descriptive and quantitative study, approved by the Research Ethics Committee (REC) of the State University of Western Paraná (SUWP) on 04/13/22, in which anthropometry data recorded by the PSE of schoolchildren in the age groups of 0 – 15 years between 2016 and 2021. Body weight (kg) and height (m) were analyzed from these data to calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI). Weight and BMI values were correlated with sex and age group over the years. Results: Data obtained from 20,233 schoolchildren indicated an increase in average body weight and BMI over the years. It is important to highlight that the increase in body weight and BMI observed between 2019 and 2021 (pandemic period) was significantly greater compared to years before the pandemic. No significant differences were obtained for the average weight between the sexes in any of the years evaluated. However, there is an effect of age group in each sex. Thus, girls showed greater weight gain over the years of evaluation, with greater evidence during the pandemic period between 2019 and 2021, especially in the age groups of 6 to 10 years and 11 to 15 years. On the other hand, among boys, the age group from 11 to 15 years old showed the greatest increase in average weight over the years, with no worsening during the pandemic period. Conclusion: During the COVID-19 pandemic period (2019-2021) greater body weight gain and high BMI values were found among students from the public education network in the city of Cascavel-PR. These findings point to the urgent need to monitor the obesogenic process in children and adolescents and establish public policies to mitigate or reverse the condition of early illness.