OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to verify the association between physical activity and socio-economic status with the presence of obesity and/or overweight in children aged six to 14 years of two different sources: an elementary school and an out-patient Pediatric clinic of one university hospital of Campinas, São Paulo. METHODS: A socio-demographic questionnaire was answered by parents and the evaluation of children's weight and height was performed according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USA, standards for body mass index (BMI) The children were divided in three categories: normal, overweight and obese. Chi-square and Fisher exact test were used to compare both groups of children. RESULTS: 107 children from the university hospital were studied (13.1% with overweight and 11.2% obese) as well as 109 from the elementary school (16.5% overweight and 20.2% obese). Both groups were similar regarding the prevalence of obesity alone or obesity and overweight. Groups differed in family income (p<0.0001), number of maternal years in school (p<0.0001) and physical activity (p<0.0001), with disadvantage of the clinic patients. CONCLUSIONS: The frequency of overweight and obesity observed in this study were high, pointing out that a nutritional transition has occurred in both samples independently of gender, socio-economic status and physical activity.
obesity; child; prevalence; motor activity
