Abstract
The aim of the communication was to present the baseline data from incidence of obesity, eating habits, physical activity and sedentary behaviour, before ELSa, interventional Portuguese health program. The sample was composed of 496 children (238 girls and 258 boys) with an average 7.7 (±2.5) years of age. Thinness, overweight and obesity were calculated by using the BMI and the cut off of Cole et al., 24 h dietary recalls and a general questionnaire was completed by the parents to provide information about eating habits, sedentary behaviour and physical activity. The results indicated high incidence of overweight and obesity, many hours in screen activities and low level of physical activity. The eating habits seemed healthy, but our children's lifestyles were sedentary. To combat the high incidence of obesity it is very urgent to design a multi-level intervention aimed to modify key behaviours: physical activity, screen time and nutrition.
Acknowledgments
We are grateful for the support of all institutions and members of Santa Marta ELSa team including Health Center, School District and City Hall. We want to extend special thanks to our research assistants, Filipe Nogueira and Victor Hugo Luís.
Declaration of interest: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest and that they have no competing interests. Also the authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.