Prevalence and risk factors for overweight and obesity in Portuguese children

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Abstract
Aim: To identify risk factors for overweight and obesity in Portuguese children. Methods: A cross‐sectional study of children 7 to 9.5 y old was performed between October 2002 and June 2003. A total of 2274 girls and 2237 boys were observed. Weight and height were measured, and parents filled out a questionnaire about family characteristics. Overweight and obesity, using age‐ and sex‐specific body mass index (BMI) cut‐off points as defined by the International Obesity Taskforce, were used. Results: After adjustment for age and sex, the odds ratio for childhood obesity increased by television viewing (reference 0–2 h; 2–3 h: 1.51; 3–4 h: 1.72; ≥4 h: 1.63), paternal obesity (reference < 18.5 kg/m2; 25.0–29.9: 3.06; ≥30.0: 7.09), maternal obesity (reference < 18.5 kg/m2; 25.0–29.9: 9.06; ≥30.0: 18.13) and birthweight (reference < 2500 g; 2500–3000 g: 1.55; 3000–3500 g: 1.87; 3500–4000 g:2.13; 5 ≥ 4000 g: 2.74), and decreased by sleeping duration (reference 8 h/d; 9–10 h/d: 0.44; ≥ll h/d: 0.39), paternal education (reference primary school; secondary: 0.91; university: 0.42), maternal education (reference primary school; secondary: 1.13; university: 0.56), being a single child (reference yes; no: 0.56) and family size (reference one child; two children: 0.59; three children: 0.44; more than four children: 0.37). Conclusion: Our data support the perspective that education about energy intake and energy expenditure should be used much earlier in those families with high‐risk children, namely those with high parental BMI or high birthweight. Protective factors were parental education and family size.