Short stature of mothers from an area endemic for undernutrition is associated with obesity, hypertension and stunted children: a population-based study in the semi-arid region of Alagoas, Northeast Brazil

Abstract

The objectives of the study were to investigate whether the health conditions of mothers with short stature differed from those with normal stature, and to establish if these aspects were associated with the health of the offspring. Data relating to health and socio-economic, demographic and anthropometric conditions were collected from a probabilistic sample population consisting of 1180 mothers and 1511 children (, 10 years) living in the semi-arid region of the State of Alagoas, Brazil. Mothers were categorised according to stature, with those in the 1st quartile being defined as of short stature and those in the 4th quartile being defined as of normal stature and serving as a reference for the comparison of variables of interest. Following verification that maternal stature fulfilled parametric assumptions, its associations with the other variables were determined by calculating Pearson correlation coefficients. After excluding strongly self-correlated variables (r $0·70), the remaining variables were analysed by multiple linear regression. The results showed that low maternal stature was independently associated with obesity (percentage body fat $30; P¼ 0·045), abdominal adiposity (waist:hip ratio $0·85; P¼ 0·007) and high systolic blood pressure ($140 mmHg; P¼ 0·006). Short maternal stature was associated with low birth weight (,3000 g; P¼ 0·01) and stunting (height-for-age Z score , 22; P¼ 0·019) in the offspring. Thus, in the semi-arid region of Alagoas, women of short stature presented a higher prevalence of chronic degenerative diseases and produced less healthy children than women of normal stature. Anthropometry: Nutritional status: Stunting: ProgrammingIn line with the majority of developing countries, Brazil is experiencing a process of epidemiological transition characterised by a reduction in the prevalence of infectious-parasitic diseases together with an increase in morbidity and mortality caused by chronic non-transmissible diseases (1) . At the same time, the population is undergoing a nutritional transition in which undernutrition is replaced by obesity, a condition which is rapidly becoming a serious public health problem (2) . National surveys conducted by the Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics) (3) have revealed that the prevalence of weight deficit in Brazilian women decreased from 10·2 % in 1974-5 to 5·4 % in 2002-3. In contrast, the frequency of excess body weight increased from 28·6 % to 39·2 %, respectively, over the same time period.One explanation for this phenomenon relates to the modernisation and urbanisation of society, which is associated with alterations in food consumption habits and particularly with a tendency towards high-energy foods (simple carbohydrates and fats) (4) . However, following a study of the dietary profile of a poor population living in a shanty town in Maceió (capital of the State of Alagoas, Brazil), Florêncio et al. (5) discovered that, although the women ingested an average of 7238 kJ (1730 k...

Latin American consensus on hypertension in patients with diabetes type 2 and metabolic syndrome

“…Além disso, na América Latina, encontra-se uma alta prevalência de hipertensão arterial em crianças, adolescentes e adultos com crescimento interrompido por má nutrição (137)(138)(139)(140)(141)(142)(143)(144). Um estudo realizado no Brasil (137), que investigou o comportamento da pressão arterial em uma amostra aleatória de adolescentes com atraso no crescimento (10-16A, n = 56), que vivem em favelas, mostrou um elevado percentual de pessoas com uma pressão acima do percentil 90 e 95, após o ajuste para altura e estavam em maior risco de desenvolver hipertensão.…”

Aleitamento materno por trinta ou mais dias é fator de proteção contra sobrepeso em pré-escolares da região semiárida de Alagoas

“…9 On the other hand, some studies have evidenced that breastfed children have are less liable to becoming obese, [10][11][12] while others have not arrived at the same conclusion, 13,14 suggesting that other variables, prevailing in specific epidemiological contexts, might interfere in this process. In Alagoas, and more specifically in its semiarid region, where social vulnerability is bigger, 15 there are no studies on the effects of exposition to breastfeeding on the occurrence of anthropometric deviations in children, as well as on what would be the possible factors associated. This study was undertaken with the finality of meeting this need.…”

Early Postnatal Stunting Increases Risk of Hypertension among Young Rural Adults from India- Pune Rural Cohort

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