Overweight, Obesity, and Growth Faltering Among Low-Income Children in Brazil

To what extent do height-for-age and body mass index (BMI)–for-age trajectories differ among children from low-income groups in Brazil across geographic regions, age groups, sexes, and ethnoracial backgrounds, and what do these differences reveal about nutritional disparities during early childhood?In this cohort study of 6 494 753 children in Brazil, overweight was prevalent at 9 years of age in both boys (30.0%) and girls (28.2%), and weight-for-age and BMI-for-age scores were above the World Health Organization standard and remained slightly elevated through 9 years of age. Height-for-age scores declined moderately until 3 years of age, with no recovery in linear growth by 9 years of age among Indigenous children.These findings suggest that geographically and demographically targeted public health strategies to address short stature and overweight among children are needed in Brazil.

Corresponding Author: Mauricio Lima Barreto, PhD, Center of Data and Knowledge Integration for Health, Gonçalo Moniz Institute, Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Rua Waldemar Falcão, 121, Candeal, 40296-710, Salvador, Bahia, Brazil (mauricio.barreto@fiocruz.br).

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