No abstract

The scope of this paper was to analyze the prevalence of the types of delivery and associated factors in Brazilian women of childbearing age studied in the last National Demographics and Health Survey (NDHS). The study is a national domicile-based cross-sectional analysis, seeking to establish the characteristics of the female population of child-bearing age and of children under 5 years of age. The prevalence of the type of delivery was described according to the following exposition variables: Brazilian macro-regions, location of residence, age, skin color, nutritional status, education, prenatal health unit and place of delivery. The statistical significance (p<0,05) was evaluated using the chi-square test. The population studied consisted of 6.125 women. It was revealed that 42.9% of the women had a caesarean section. Significantly, the prevalence of caesarean section was smaller, irrespective of macro-regions, location of residence, age, skin color, nutritional status, prenatal health unit and place of delivery. The need for further investigation into the factors behind the increase in caesarean sections in Brazil is required in order to reverse this situation, since caesarean section can lead to a series of health complications for both mother and child.

The aim of this study was to estimate the association between birth order and number of siblings with body composition in adolescents. Data are from a birth cohort study conducted in Pelotas, Brazil. At the age of 18 years, 4563 adolescents were located, of whom 4106 were interviewed (follow-up rate 81·3 %). Of these, 3974 had complete data and were thus included in our analysis. The variables used in the analysis were measured during the perinatal period, or at 11, 15 and/or 18 years of age. Body composition at 18 years was collected by air displacement plethysmography (BOD POD®). Crude and adjusted analyses of the association between birth order and number of siblings with body composition were performed using linear regression. All analyses were stratified by the adolescent sex. The means of BMI, fat mass index and fat-free mass index among adolescents were 23·4 (sd 4·5) kg/m2, 6·1 (sd 3·9) kg/m2 and 17·3 (sd 2·5) kg/m2, respectively. In adjusted models, the total siblings remained inversely associated with fat mass index (β = − 0·37 z-scores, 95 % CI − 0·52, − 0·23) and BMI in boys (β = − 0·39 z-scores, 95 % CI − 0·55, − 0·22). Fat-free mass index was related to the total siblings in girls (β = 0·06 z-scores, 95 % CI − 0·04, 0·17). This research has found that number of total siblings, and not birth order, is related to the fat mass index, fat-free mass index and BMI in adolescents. It suggests the need for early prevention of obesity or fat mass accumulation in only children.

Associação entre circunferência da cintura e índice de massa corporal de mulheres brasileiras: PNDS 2006Association between waist circumference and body mass index of Brazilian women: NDHS 2006 Resumo O objetivo do estudo foi analisar a associação entre a circunferência da cintura (CC)

Fatores associados ao excesso de peso em crianças brasileiras menores de cinco anosFactors associated with excess weight in Brazilian children under five years of age