Prevalence and factors associated with overweight/obesity and systemic arterial hypertension in the private education network children of Divinópolis, MG

Abstract This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of overweight/obesity and systemic arterial hypertension (SAH) in children aged 8-10 years of private schools in Divinópolis, MG and the associated risk factors. Levels of blood pressure, body weight and height of children were measured. The risk factors were obtained by questionnaire. Data were analyzed using STATA software and statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Sampling included 199 children (107 girls and 92 boys). Of these, 33.2% were overweight/obese. Overweight was associated with the gender and mother`s weight. Regarding hypertension, 33.2% of children showed borderline or high blood pressure. The altered levels of blood pressure proved to be related to race and breastfeeding duration. Another feature associated with altered blood pressure was excess body weight, reinforcing the literature data that demonstrate a significant association between hypertension and overweight/obesity.