[The nutritional status of schoolchildren living in the semi-arid area of northern Brazil].

OBJECTIVE This study was aimed at describing the nutritional status of 10 to 17 year old children enrolled in public and private schools from different regions having specific Brazilian semi-arid area characteristics. MATERIAL AND METHODS This was a cross-sectional, descriptive and comparative study using a stratified probability sample (n=1 701). 900 children were male and 801 female selected from three cities, randomly chosen from 3 cities which were representative of the regions: Leste Potiguar-RLP (n=1,158), Oeste Potiguar-ROP (n=312) and Central Potiguar-RCP (n=231). They were divided into three age groups: 10 to 12 years, 13 and 14 years and e(3)15 years. Conde and Monteiro cutoff points were used for body mass index (BMI) classification. RESULTS Regarding the regions, there was a significant difference (p<0001) in BMI distribution. RLP presented excess weight and obesity (6.8 %, 15.2 %), ROP (16.3 %, 9.6 %) and RCP (10.4 %, 3.9 %), respectively. CONCLUSIONS Adolescents in the most favored regions (especially students in private schools in the region) had a prevalence of being overweight and suffering from obesity.