OBJECTIVE: Analyze possible differences on growth and body composition of children from five to ten years old of Germanic and Brazilian ethnic origin in the cities of Marechal Cândido Rondon and Foz do Iguaçu, Paraná, Brazil. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was carried out during 2002 and 2003 and enrolled 2,673 children (1,352 girls) in 16 public and private schools. Weight, height and triccipital (TR) and subscapular (SS) skinfolds were evaluated. The following variables were obtained: body mass index (BMI) and the sum of TR and SS. Descriptive statistic analysis was applied and the comparison of the variables between genders and among the ages strata was done by ANOVA, being significant p<0,05. RESULTS: The school children presented body weight and height close to the 50th percentile, when these data were compared with national and international references. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reference curves, published in 2000, obesity was present in 10.9% of the schoolchildren from Brazilian ethnic origin, in 8.8% of the boys and 6.6% of the girls of German ethnic background. The skin fold of the girls of both ethnicities presented higher values than the boys’. In public schools, Z scores showed that children of Germanic ethnicity presented higher body weight, height and BMI than those found in children of Brazilian ethnicity, but children of private schools showed difference only for BMI. CONCLUSIONS: In the public schools, the children with Germanic background are bigger, but, in private schools, that difference disappears, suggesting that the environment exerts a stronger influence than ethnicity in reference to growth patterns.
growth; body composition; ethnic groups
