Overweight and obesity in Brazilian adolescents

Abstract

and 3 Fundac Ëa Äo Seade, Brazil OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to describe the prevalence of overweight and obesity (OW O) among Brazilian adolescents and to identify risks for subpopulations de®ned according to the ®ve country macro-regions and situation (urban±rural) of the domiciles, income, years of school attendance, age and sex. DESIGN: A nationwide home-based survey representative of the Brazilian civilian noninstitutionalized population, performed in 1989. METHODS: The sampling plans followed a strati®ed, multistage, probability cluster design in The National Research of Health and Nutrition sample, which collected anthropometric data of 14,455 domiciles. In all, 13,715 adolescents ranging from 10 to 19 y of age were studied. The OW O was de®ned from a body mass index (BMI) equal or superior to the 85th percentile of the reference population of the NCHS. The prevalences in the different studied groups were compared using the adjusted odds ratio in logistic regression models. RESULTS: The prevalence of OW O was of 7.7%, reaching 10.6% within the female group and 4.8% within the male group. A direct relation could be established between the socioeconomic level and OW O. Adolescents of the most industrialized region of the country presented a risk of OW O 1.86 (95% CI 1.51 ± 2.30) times higher than that found in the least developed region. Male youngsters who lived in urban areas were more liable (OR 1.71, 95% CI 1.30 ± 2.25) to overweight than their counterparts of rural areas. The occurrence of menarche increased two and a half times (OR 2.58, 95% CI 2.11 ± 3.15) the risk of OW O within the female group of adolescents. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrate a low prevalence of OW O among Brazilian adolescents when compared with adolescents of more industrialized regions. The OW O is twice as high within the female group, which represents a much greater difference than the one encountered in industrialized countries, probably owing to the muscular work carried out preponderantly by male adolescents of lower socioeconomic levels. Higher prevalences in subpopulations of higher socioeconomic level and of more industrialized regions show the great need for differentiated actions to control overweight and obesity in the country.

Female gender and wealth are associated to overweight among adolescents in La Paz, Bolivia

“…Although DHS provides data only in girls who have had a child in the previous 3 y (hence a different population), the prevalence of overweight was found to be of a similar size (data not shown). The results described in this paper are furthermore in agreement to previous reports for Brazil (Neutzling et al, 2000) and East Germany (Frye and Heinrich, 2003), but apparently in other countries the contrary is observed (Kautiainen et al, 2002;Savva et al, 2002), where boys tend to be more overweight than girls, hence impeding generalisation.…”

Body mass index, overweight and obesity among Kuwaiti intermediate school adolescents aged 10–14 years

“…From these cited studies, it appears that Kuwaiti adolescents take the lead in the level of obesity. With the exception of the Brazilians (Neutzling et al, 2000), the percentages shown do not seem to vary much. In most studies, this one included, the level of fatness among adolescent girls was found to be higher than boys (Forbes, 1977;Neutzling et al, 2000).…”

“…With the exception of the Brazilians (Neutzling et al, 2000), the percentages shown do not seem to vary much. In most studies, this one included, the level of fatness among adolescent girls was found to be higher than boys (Forbes, 1977;Neutzling et al, 2000). The risk of obesity among girls in one study was twice as high as among boys (Neutzling et al, 2000).…”

“…In most studies, this one included, the level of fatness among adolescent girls was found to be higher than boys (Forbes, 1977;Neutzling et al, 2000). The risk of obesity among girls in one study was twice as high as among boys (Neutzling et al, 2000). During the age of adolescence, and especially during puberty both girls and boys undergo fat storage.…”

“…By comparison, obesity among Canadians of similar age has been found to be 29% (Young et al, 2000). It was 19.7% among Dutch adolescents (Weststrate et al, 1989), 18% among American NHANES II (Gauthier et al, 2000), 26% among Italians (Falorni et al, 1998), 24% among New Zealanders (Williams, 2000), 7.7% among Brazilians (Neutzling et al, 2000) and 26% among Saudi adolescents aged 10-14 y (Magbool, 1994). From these cited studies, it appears that Kuwaiti adolescents take the lead in the level of obesity.…”