Overweight in children: a growing problem.

In this issue, Silveira et al. report on analyses of three nationally representative studies of Brazilian children, conducted in 1989, 1996, and 2006/7. The analytic sample was restricted to ages 24 to 60 months. Silveira et al. find that the prevalence of overweight in this age group increased from 3.0% in 1989 to 7.8% in 2006/7, that most of the increase occurred between 1996 and 2006/7, and that the increase has occurred in all regions of the country, with some variation in the rate of increase across regions. In the second section of the article, the authors analyzed the most recent survey in more detail to identify crosssectional correlates of overweight, finding that markers of higher socioeconomic position are predictors of increased prevalence of child overweight. Specifically, households in the more developed Southeastern Region, from the upper social classes, and whose mothers had seven or more years of schooling had elevated prevalence of overweight. In addition, consumption of caloric sweetened beverages four or more times weekly (reported by 9% of the sample) was associated with overweight. Based on nationally-representative samples, the present analysis provides country-wide estimates that will be of value to policy-makers. However, one might quibble with the statistical approach on two grounds. First, the use of samples for which the primary outcome measure was defined using varying reference curves. The World Health