Tarun Gupta / Getty Images Eyes on the scale: being overweight in childhood increases the risk of disease in adulthoodTarun Gupta / Getty Images
Children in low-income Brazilian families are being born slightly heavier. The good news is that during their childhood, they are growing a little taller than the previous generation. This information, however, is offset by a worrying fact: at this early stage of life, an increasing proportion of children are overweight or obese. The observed height gain is welcome news, indicating an improvement in the living and health conditions of women and children. The increase in weight, however, is a cause for concern, increasing the risk that children will suffer health problems such as hypertension, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases in adulthood. A team led by epidemiologists Maurício Barreto, from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (FIOCRUZ) in Bahia, and Leah Li, from University College London, evaluated data on the body mass of 5.75 million Brazilian children from low-income families, collected at birth and at least two other moments in their lives. The group also analyzed height data obtained between the ages of three and nine. At birth, babies born between 2008 and 2014 were about 30 grams heavier than those born between 2001 and 2007. By the time they reached three and four years of age, 11.8% of boys and 10.5% of girls in the 2008–2014 group were overweight. From age three onwards, children born between 2008 and 2014 were also about one centimeter taller, on average, than those born between 2001 and 2007. Other studies have also warned that the number of overweight and obese children and adolescents has been rising since 1990 (Pesquisa FAPESP issue no. 336 and 338; The Lancet Regional Health – Americas, March 27).
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