Prevalence of weight excess in Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review

Abstract The prevalence of obesity is rapidly increasing worldwide, no mattering age groups and socioeconomic status. In Brazil, it is still unclear the prevalence of obesity in children and adolescents, since most Brazilian studies have only verified regional prevalence of obesity. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to analyze the scientific production regarding the prevalence of weight excess in Brazilian children and adolescents. A search in the relevant electronic databases Medline/Pubmed, Web of Science, Lilacs, Scielo and BVS was performed. After analyzing 61 studies, the overall prevalence was 25.5%. When sample was stratified weight excess degree, a prevalence of 17% and 11.6% for overweight and obesity were observed, respectively. Analyzing differences by sex, boys presented higher prevalence of overall weight excess (e.g., 26.4% vs 23.5%), overweight (17% vs 16%) and obesity (11.9% vs 9.1%) than girls. With respect to Brazilian regions and its differences, individuals from southern presented the highest prevalence of overall weight excess (33.2%) and overweight (20.1%). The southeastern region showed the highest prevalence of obesity (18.2%). The results obtained in the current study indicate that Brazil presents a scenario of crescent increasing on the prevalence of weight excess. These results are in accordance with studies from other countries, and reinforce the increase of the overall weight excess prevalence in Brazilian children and adolescents, highlighting the increasing of obesity rates, since it is a more concerning condition than overweight. Therefore, preventive measures to reduce weight excess increase, as well as treatment programs aiming to tackle obesity in childhood should be public health system top priority.

摘要 肥胖的患病率在全球范围内快速攀升，无论年龄群体与社会经济地位如何均受影响。在巴西，儿童与青少年的肥胖患病率仍不明确，因绝大多数巴西相关研究仅验证了区域层面的肥胖患病率。故此，本研究旨在分析针对巴西儿童青少年体重超标患病率的学术研究成果。

本研究检索了医学文献联机检索系统（Medline/PubMed）、科学网（Web of Science）、拉丁美洲健康科学文献数据库（Lilacs）、科学电子图书馆在线（SciELO）与虚拟健康图书馆（BVS）等相关电子数据库。对61项研究进行分析后，整体体重超标患病率为25.5%。按体重超标程度对样本分层分析后，超重与肥胖的患病率分别为17%与11.6%。按性别差异分析可见，男孩的整体体重超标（例如26.4% vs 23.5%）、超重（17% vs 16%）与肥胖（11.9% vs 9.1%）患病率均高于女孩。

就巴西各区域及其差异而言，南部地区人群的整体体重超标（33.2%）与超重（20.1%）患病率最高，东南部地区的肥胖患病率最高，达18.2%。本研究所得结果表明，巴西儿童青少年的体重超标患病率呈持续上升态势。该结果与其他国家的相关研究结论一致，进一步证实巴西儿童青少年的整体体重超标患病率不断攀升，凸显了肥胖率的增长——因为肥胖相较于超重是更需重视的健康问题。因此，遏制体重超标增长的预防措施，以及针对儿童青少年肥胖的治疗方案，应当成为公共卫生体系的优先要务。