OBJECTIVE: Excess weight is a serious public health problem all over the world, affecting children and adolescents. The objective of the present study was to determine whether the condition of being overweight is associated to changes in health parameters. METHODS: 84 subjects aged 6-17 years old were studied (34 overweight and 50 obese patients), all of them assisted at the Pediatric Nutrology outpatient clinic of the University of Ribeirão Preto (Unaerp) from October/2004 to October/2005. Arterial pressure, abdominal circumference, fast glycemia, second hour glycemia, total cholesterol and its fractions (HDL-c and LDL-c) and triglycerides were determined. The two groups were compared by two statistical approaches: comparison of absolute values by Mann-Whitney test, and between frequencies of altered values by Fisher exact test. RESULTS: There was a statistical difference only for HDL-c, with higher concentrations in the overweight group when the subgroup of patients with 6-10 years old was considered. Regarding the second approach, there were statistical differences in the abdominal circumference by Freedman criteria, HDL-c and fast glycemia, with higher frequencies of altered values among obese subjects. CONCLUSIONS: Overweight patients presented alterations harmful to their health, similarly to obese individuals. It is necessary to enroll overweight children and adolescents in programs dedicated to the prevention and treatment of nutritional problems.
obesity; overweight; child; adolescent; risk factors
