Physical growth and body adiposity of students

Resumen

Physical growth can be assessed through anthropometric variables which allow for verification of modifications in body components, such as stature, body mass and body fat. The aim of this research was to compare the physical growth and body adiposity of students from 8 to 11 years old, from the City of Ijuí – RS (South of Brazil) with National and International references. The sample was constituted by 694 students (319 males and 375 females), according to the schools, accessibility, considering three different neighborhoods (Central, North and South), and schools with the largest number of students in the elementary school. Physical growth variables (stature, body mass and BMI) were analyzed and compared with normative tables of American and Brazilian children. Body adiposity was estimated by a regression equation of Lohman. Descriptive statistics and One- Sample “t” test were used, with significant level of p<0.05. The results showed that, in general, students from Ijuí presented greater stature, body mass and BMI values compared with the American (NCHS) and Sergipanas (Brazilian) children, except for girls (9 and 11 years-old), and boys (10 year-old) that presented similar values for stature with the other studies. The classification of body adiposity, in both sexes, showed that most of the students between 8 and 11 years-old were in appropriate level. However, in the ages of 9 and 11 for boys the percentile was considered as being classified as excess body fat (32,3% and 31,7%, respectively). Thus, the girls had bigger percentile at the ages of 8 and 11 (33,9% and 39,7%, respectively). It was concluded that almost one third of boys and girls were classified as having excess body fat. The authors recommend caution when utilizing growth charts from other countries or small data sets from specific region.