PREVALÊNCIA DE SOBREPESO E OBESIDADE EM ADOLESCENTES DA ZONA SUL DE SÃO PAULO - SP Prevalence of overweight and obesity in adolescents from the south zone of the city of Sao Paulo - SP Educação Física em Revista - EFR

Obesity is considered to be one of the major public health issues nowadays, as it increases the risk of morbidity for the main chronic diseases. Obese adolescents are more likely to become obese adults than eutrophic individuals of the same age group. The aim of this study was to verify the prevalence of overweight and obesity in high school students from a private school in the city of Sao Paulo. Six hundred and eleven adolescents of both genders were evaluated, ageing 14 to 18 years old. Participants' weight, stature and body fat were assessed. Analysis revealed that 25,6% of girls and 27,8% of boys were classified as having overweight or being obese according to BMI. However, according to percentage of body fat, 62,1% of girls and 34,6% of boys had excessive adiposity or obesity. We found a high correlation between BMI and percentage of body fat in both groups (girls r= 0,8; boys r= 0,85). Prevalence of overweight and obesity was high and superior in girls, and despite the high correlation between BMI and percentage of body fat, BMI alone was not a good indicator of body adiposity in this age group.