Results
Population data
We were able to locate and accept 232 children to participate
in the last phase of the study after 60 months
from the initial cross sectional study. Gender distribution
had slightly more males but there were no statistical
differences between girls and boys (Table 2). The
nutritional status study, based on body mass index
(BMI), showed that overweight prevalence was consistently
higher than underweight prevalence, although
these differences proved less significant as the children
aged. Interestingly, underweight (BMI < 1 SD) consistently
rose from 8.1% at the beginning of the study to
15.3% in pubertal ages.