Sobrepeso, obesidad, hábitos alimentarios, actividad física y uso del tiempo libre en escolares de Corrientes (Argentina)

the aim of the present paper is to asses the prevalence of overweight and obesity, the eating habit trends, the physical activity, and the use of free time among the students from corrientes city, argentina. students of both sexes aged 10-15, attending the schools selected from all the ones existing in the center of the city by a randomized nonstratified lottery sampling, were studied. the variables used in the study were: sex, age, height, and body weight, body mass index (bmi), physical activity, hours spent in front of the tv, eating habits, and socioeconomic level. of the 2 507 studied students, 17.1 % were overweight, and 4.5 % were obese. the average daily time spent watching tv was 2.5 hours. the studied group presented a high prevalence of overweight and obesity, inadequate eaating behaviors, and a low level of physical activity. 36 % did not carry out any physical activity out of school.