[Overweight and obesity in school children: association between biopsychological, socioeconomic and behavioral factors].

OBJECTIVE To verify the association between the behavioral, biopsychological, and socioeconomic factors in overweight and obese students. SUBJECTS AND METHODS The sample involved 393 students from state and private schools in Florianópolis/SC, mean age of 9.9 ± 1.7, with 41% male subjects. A questionnaire adapted from Oliveira e cols. was applied in the interview; anthropometric information (body mass and height) was used to calculate the BMI, and individuals were classified in overweight and obese according to Conde and Monteiro. RESULTS As for the distribution of obesity and overweight by gender, girls showed a similar degree, while among boys, overweight individuals represented 77% of the sample. There were associations between female gender, economic status, ethnicity, school, and type of food with p ranging from < 0.001 to 0.003. CONCLUSION It was found that the behavioral, biopsychological, and socioeconomic factors seem to interfere with overweight and obesity in students of Florianópolis.