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The total children population studied consisted of 228 participants, of which 167 (73%) were from a private school and 61 (27%) from a public school. Of a total of 299 children, 60 from the private school and 11 from the public school were discarded because they did not have the approval of their parents through informed consent. The age range was 6-11 years, with an average of 8.47 ± 2.56 years. According to the BMI, 23% of public school children were overweight and 26% obese, obtaining a joint value of 49%. In addition, it was detected that 1% suffered from lack of weight. In the private school, 23% were overweight and only 4% obese, giving a joint value of 27%. From the BF%, in public schools it was found that 20% of the population suffered from overweight and 26% from obesity, with a joint value of 46%. In addition, 5% exhibited low weight for their age. The values in private school were 14% overweight and 5% obese, obtaining a joint value of 19%.
Table 1 shows the means and standard deviation of weight, height, BMI and BF% of the children population studied, according to age and elementary grade. As expected, weight and height increased progressively with age. No significant differences in BMI were detected in children of the same grade between schools, except for in the second grade, where the public school population presented a higher average (p<0.05). Regarding the BF%, the children of first, second and 5th grade of public school showed significantly higher values (p<0.05) compared to the children of private school of the same year.
According to the results of the HEPALHQ, a higher percentage of children (53%) in public schools with poor eating habits and risk factors in their lifestyle were found. On the contrary, in private school a higher percentage of children (68%) showed that they followed sufficient eating habits and lifestyle to have good health (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Results (%) of the Healthy Living Habits of Eating and Physical Activity Questionnaire (HLHEPAQ) in a child in private and public elementary schools of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Table 1: : Beverage consumption in children from 6 to 11 years of age from public and private elementary schools of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
Regarding preferences and eating habits, 34% and 25% of public school and private school children, respectively, used to skip one of the three daily meals, mainly dinner. Regarding the frequency of food consumption (Figure 2), it was found that 30% of the children in both cases almost never eat pasta. Legumes were part of the daily menu of 30% of public school children and 34% of private school children, while 26% and 18% of the respective cases never consumed them. Vegetables had a low percentage of consumption in both groups, where only 48%-49% of children ate them daily. Daily fruit intake was slightly higher in the public school (57%) than in the private school (43%). With regard to protein of animal origin, 47% of public school children almost never included fish in their diet, against 32% in private schools. In both schools, between 29%- 32% ate meat, 37%-40% eggs, while only 24%-25% of children declared that they consumed nuts daily. In public school, 15% and 19% daily consumed sweets and fast food, respectively, while in private school the corresponding percentages were 19% and 11%. In the latter, the consumption of fats (dressings, mayonnaise, and margarine) was more frequent.
Figure 2: Percentages (%) of the frequency of food consumption in children of public school (A) and private school (B) of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico
The child population was asked what activities they did while eating. Public school children were the ones who mostly (32%) who used to eat without being distracted, while chatting during meals was more common in private school children (34%). Watching television while eating presented the same incidence in both groups. The time that public school children spent eating, in 47% of cases, was 15 min versus 39% in private schools, while 23% and 35% respectively, took 20 min. When evaluating how quickly they were considered to eat, between 23%-24% of the children in both schools scored with the highest score. The largest proportion qualified with a score from 4 to 7, indicating that these children are not considered fast or slow to eat (Figure 3).
Figure 3: Eating habits in children from 6 to 11 years of public and private schools of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico. The values are expressed in percentages (%). A: Favourite foods; B: Activities while eating; C: Time it takes to eat; D: Ratings of how fast they think they eat
In respect to favorite drinks (Table 1), half of the children in both schools selected cola as one of them, while water was preferred by 88% of the children in public school and 95% in private school. In terms of water consumption, a high percentage of children in both cases were found to usually drink a small amount (between 1 and 3 glasses a day). Only 9% in public school and 1% in private school drank more than 6 glasses of water a day. As for cola, 61% in the first case used to drink one glass a day and only 5% drank none. In the second case, 55% consumed a daily glass and 27% did not drink cola.
Table 2 shows the results of the frequency of physical activity. To get to school, a lower percentage of public school children used a car (61%) compared to private school children (86%). In activities during break time, it was found that 39% of the children in the first case preferred to sit down talking, 31% liked to play sitting down, and only 28% did activities such as running, jumping or playing sports. In the private school, 30% stated that they only talked, 9% played sitting down, and 52% played games or physical activities. Another aspect evaluated were the hours of sleep, where it was observed that in the first case, 52% of the children slept 8 h or more and only 10% less than 6 h a day. In contrast, in the private school, 70% slept more than 8 h and 5% less than 6 h. The hours spent in front of the television or electronic devices for both cases was of 1 h for most of the children. However, 36% in public school spent more than 4 h a day, compared to 27% in private school. In contrast, in the first case, 59% of the children exercised daily and 17% only on weekends, while in private school the percentages were 75% and 2%, respectively.
Table 2: Frequency of activities of children from 6 to 11 years of age from public and private elementary schools of Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico