Prevalence of overweight, obesity and physical activity levels in children from Azores Islands

Background: Childhood overweight and obesity are increasing all over the world and have been associated with low levels of physical activity (PA). Aims: To determine the prevalence of overweight, obesity and PA levels in Azorean children according to age and sex; and to determine the association between levels of PA and prevalence of overweight and obesity. Subjects and methods: Weight, height and PA levels were measured in 3699 children aged 6-10 years, from the Azores Islands, Portugal. Overweight and obesity were classified according to the cut-offs of Cole et al. (BMJ 320: 1240-1243, 2000). Results: In girls, prevalences of overweight and obesity were 22.8% and 13.2%, and in boys 17.6% and 12.3%, respectively. No age trends were found in the prevalence of overweight or obesity; however, girls had a higher risk of being overweight (OR = 1.4, 95% CI = 1.2-1.7) than boys. Levels of PA were higher in boys compared to girls (F(1) = 52.8, p < 0.001). A protective effect of PA practice (very active versus less active) was observed for obesity (OR = 0.7; 95% CI = 0.5-0.9). Conclusion: The results demonstrate the existence of high prevalence of overweight and obesity in children from the Azores Islands, which is associated with low levels of PA.