Paper short abstract:

African children living in Portugal have lower rates of obesity while the ones with mixed ethnicity have the highest. Children with one parent of African origin might be at higher risk of being overweight/obese.

Paper long abstract:

This study focuses on the health status of children from Portuguese, African and mixed ethnicity living in Portugal. Our aims are: i) to report the prevalence of under-and-over nutrition among these children and ii) to determine the influence of parental factors. The data was collected in 2009 in Portugal and 10.642 boys and girls aged 6 to 9 years old were selected. The prevalence of short-stature-for-age, according to growth references (Frisancho 2008), is higher on Portuguese girls while on boy´s quite similar on both ethnic groups. The African girls registered more low-weight-for-age. The International Obesity Task Force (Cole et al 2000, 2007) classification for overweight/obesity shows that there are more overweight Portuguese girls whereas the African children have lower prevalence in both categories. Portuguese boys are heavier than their African counterparts. The birth weight and the weight of both parents positively influenced the boys' BMI at the time of measurement while the parents' ethnic group did not. However, the girl's BMI was significantly affected by their birth weight, the mother´s weight gain, the weight of the parents and with their ethnic group. In summary, our preliminary findings show that African children living in Portugal have lower rates of obesity while the ones with mixed ethnicity have the highest. Among girls, their BMI is significantly associated with the ethnic group they belong to which might indicate that children with one parent of African origin are at higher risk of being overweight/obese.