Prevalence of childhood obesity in Brazil: systematic review and meta-analysis
Carolina Müller Ferreira, Natália Dutra dos Reis, Andresa de Oliveira Castro, Dorotéia Aparecida Höfelmann, Kátia Kodaira, Marcus Tolentino Silva, Taís Freire Galvão
Abstract
To estimate the prevalence of childhood obesity in Brazil by means of a systematic review of representative studies. We searched for population-based studies that assessed obesity in Brazilian children aged < 10 years in MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus and other sources up to September, 2019. Paired researchers selected studies, extracted data and assessed the quality of these studies. Meta-analysis of prevalence and confidence interval (95% CI) was calculated, weighted by the population sizes using Freeman-Tukey double-arccosine transformation. Heterogeneity (I2) and publication bias were investigated by meta-regression and Egger’s test, respectively. 53 studies were included (n = 122,395), which were held from 1986 to 2015 and limited mainly due to inadequate response rates. Prevalence of obesity in the three-decade period was of 8.2% ([95% CI]: 8.1–8.4%, I2 = 98.5%). Higher prevalence was observed in boys (9.7% [9.4–9.9%], I2 = 97.4%) than girls (7.3% [7.1−7.5%], I2 = 96.1%). Prevalence increased according to the decade (1990: 6.5% [6.0–7.0 %], I2 = 96.8%; 2000: 7.9% [7.7–8.0 %], I2 = 98.8%; 2010: 12.0% [11.5–12.6 %], I2 = 95.8%), and Brazilian region (Northeast: 6.4% [6.2−6.7%], I2 = 98.1%; North: 6.7% [6.3−7.2%], I2 = 98.8%; Southeast:10.6% [10.2−11.0%], I2 = 98.2%; South: 10.1 [9.7−10.4%], I2 = 97.7%). Heterogeneity was affected by age and region (p < 0.05) and publication bias was discarded (p = 0.746). For every 100 Brazilian children, over eight had obesity in the three-decade period and 12 in each 100 had childhood obesity in more recent estimates. Higher prevalence occurred in boys, recent decades and more developed Brazilian regions.