Children of Vilassar de Mar presented less overweight and obesity than the average catalana.

a joint study from the Health Department of the Town Hall of sea Vilassar and the Institute for research in primary care (IDIAP Jordi Gol) analyzes the overweight and obesity of young school between 6 and 12 years.

Spain, 2011-December It’s a descriptive, cross-sectional study in students of 1 ° to 6 ° of primary 5 schools of Vilassar de Mar (Barcelona). In schools it weighed and measured all the students included in the study and was also reach parents questionnaire on healthy lifestyle habits and feeding them both of their children.

Results

They measured and weigh a total of 929 students, representing 87 per cent of the total number of pupils of primary of Vilassar de Mar… Also moved a questionnaire on nutrition and healthy lifestyle habits that completed 774 students, i.e., 72.5 per cent of the total number of students of Vilassar de Mar.

The results show that the prevalence of overweight was 37.9%, overweight was 23 per cent while the prevalence of obesity was 14.9%.

This prevalence of overweight and obesity, both boys and girls, is lower than it has the whole Catalan child population according to the ALADDIN 2011 study carried out by the Spanish Agency for food safety and nutrition. According to this study in Catalonia 42.5 per cent of the children are overweighta 25.7% presents overweight and 16.8 per cent suffers from obesity.

Among the children studied in Vilassar de Mar, the features that are associated with a higher prevalence of overweight were: have a smoker mother and a father or a mother with overweight and / or obesity. While the characteristics associated with a higher prevalence of obesity in children was: being young, having a less than 40-year-old mother, and having a father or a mother overweight and / or obesity. In the same way, also has been observed that smoking parents are more likely to have children with low weight at birth but with overweight and obesity in school-age.

According to the DRA. Roser Vallès, researcher of the project “the relationship between fathers smoking and overweight prevalence could be linked to unhealthy lifestyles, as well as the relationship with overweight and obesity of the fathers”. For Dr.. Vallès “study we pointed out that the child population of Vilassar de Mar presented a prevalence of overweight and less than the Catalan average obesity and that encourages us while”, ends up telling us “should be further integrated efforts of the different social agents (Town Hall, school, health, etc…)” to promote prevention and health promotion at all levels “.

“what the IDIAP?

The Foundation Jordi Gol i Gurina was created in 1996 by the Catalan Health Institute, with the aim of promoting and managing innovation, training, teaching and research clinical, epidemiological and health services in the field of primary health care.

2006, Became the Institute for research in primary care Jordi Gol (IDIAP Jordi Gol), and the 2010 admits to the UAB as a University Institute of research in primary care.

From August 2011 has the quality certification ISO 9001: 2008 for its support and advisory activities to project of investigació.