Child nutritional status: a representative survey in a metropolitan school

To assess the prevalence of obesity, overweight, and thinness among children in an Italian school.

Five hundred ninety-five children (289 males and 306 females) were enrolled, aged between 6 and 19 years old, in Italian school in Rome. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated according to International Obesity Task Force (IOFT) cut-off points. By age criterion all participants have been classified in age classes.

A normal BMI was recorded in 73.6% of all cases. Obesity, overweight, and thinness prevalence was 5.9%, 9.6%, and 10.9%, respectively, without statistical differences in both genders, except the prevalence of overweight that resulted statistically significant (13.1% males versus 6.2% females, P < 0.05). Differences in the age groups have been found. About 23.4% of children between 7 to 11 years were defined obese and about 42.3% between 6 to 8 years thin grade 2, respectively.

The study reports the low prevalence of overweight and obesity, in contrast to the unexpected thinness prevalence. The identification of specific age groups with abnormal nutritional status could be the first step to address future epidemiological investigations in order to plan strategic approach in selected age periods.