Evaluacion De Una Intervencion Para Prevenir Obesidad En Escolares Chilenos

ARCHIVOS LATINOAMERICANOS DE NUTRICIÓN
Órgano Oficial de la Sociedad Latinoamericana de Nutrición

Vol. 62 Nº 1, 2012

Evaluación de una intervención en educación alimentaria y
actividad física para prevenir obesidad infantil
en escuelas públicas de Santiago de Chile.
Juliana Kain, Bárbara Leyton, Fernando Concha, Gerardo Weisstaub, Luz Lobos,
Nelly Bustos, Fernando Vio
Instituto deNutrición y Tecnología de los Alimentos (INTA), Universidad de Chile, Santiago de Chile
SUMMARY. Evaluation of an obesity prevention intervention which includednutrition education and physical
activity applied in public schools of Santiago, Chile . The
main objective of this study was to assess the effectiveness
of an obesity prevention intervention which included nutrition education and physicalactivity applied to low income
Chilean children in a longitudinal three-year follow-up
study. Participants included all 4-7 year old children from
7 public schools located in a low socioeconomic district of
Santiago. The main aspects of the intervention were: training of teachers so they could apply an educational program
on healthy eating, increase in physical education classes
from 3 to 4per week, and improvement of their quality.
Weight, height, waist circumference (WC) and the 6-minute
walk distance (6MWD) were assessed yearly in 597 children. We calculated BMI, BMI Z, % normal (N), overweight (OW) and obesity (OB), WC > 90th percentile
(NHANES III) and fitness (6MWD/ height). Annual changes in BMI Z, WC, 6MWD and fitness were assessed, using
repeated measures ANOVA and thetest of proportions.
Knowledge in healthy eating was assessed during 2 of the
3 years. Results showed that % OB remained unchanged
for 2 years (17%) but increased to 19.3 % at follow-up. BMI
Z increased from 0.3 to 0.38 (p= 0.052) in the N, remained
unchanged in the OW, while decreasing significantly in the
OB (2.73 to 2.41 p< 0.0001). % WC > 90 th percentile decreased in the OW and OB; 6MWD was higher in the OW,
but the increase in distance overtime was greater among the
N. Overall fitness improved, however it was only significant
among the N (p= 0.0002). There was a significant increase
in food knowledge. We conclude that in spite of a decrease
in BMI Z of the OB, an improvement in fitness in the N and
food knowledge in all the children, obesity increased at follow-up. Thisstudy shows that in school-based obesity programs it is necessary to apply more intense interventions
with another type of methodology; otherwise this condition
will continue to rise.
Key words: Childhood obesity, nutrition education and
physical activity intervention. physical fitness

RESUMEN. El objetivo de este estudio fue evaluar una intervención en educación nutricional y actividadfísica para
prevenir obesidad en escolares chilenos, mediante seguimiento longitudinal de tres años. La muestra incluyó 597
niños de 4 a 7 años asistentes a 7 escuelas públicas de una
comuna de bajo nivel socioeconómico de Santiago. Los
principales aspectos de la intervención fueron: capacitación
de profesores para que apliquen un programa de educación
nutricional, aumento de las clases deeducación física de 3
a 4 sesiones semanales y mejoría de su calidad. Se midió:
Peso (P), Talla (T), circunferencia de cintura (CC) y test de
caminata de 6 minutos (TM6). Se calculó IMC, Z IMC, %
de escolares normales (N), sobrepeso (SP) y obesos (OB),
CC > percentil 90 (NHANES III) y condición física
(T6M/talla). Se evaluaron los cambios anuales de Z IMC,
CC, TM6 y TM6/talla usando el test derepeticiones de
ANOVA y el test de proporciones. Se evaluaron cambios
en conocimientos sobre alimentación saludable en 2 de los
3 años. Los resultados mostraron que el porcentaje de obesidad (17%) no cambió los primeros dos años, sin embargo
aumentó el tercer año a un 19,3%; Z IMC aumentó de 0,3 a
0,38 (p=0,052) en los N, sin cambio en SP y disminuyendo
significativamente en los OB (2,73...