Biomedical subjects
E Recine
Publications and source records attributed to E Recine.
Growth and body mass index of Brazilians ages 9 through 17 years.
Obesity during adolescence is considered a strong predictor of adult obesity, and obesity and overweight have been increasing among Brazilian adults. To gauge the relative frequency of overweight among adolescents in Brazil, we compared the distributions of body mass index (kg/m2) and stature in national population based samples of the U.S. and Brazil. U.S. adolescents were on average about 10 cm taller than Brazilians, although growth spurts occurred at the same age for both populations. Brazilian adolescents were leaner than their U.S. counterparts. This difference was reduced among girls in the postpubertal period. At age 17 years, U.S. boys were about 10 kg heavier than Brazilian boys, but the difference among girls was only 2 kg. In families above the poverty level in the more developed South region, body mass index distribution for boys was closer to that of the U.S., and older girls tended to have higher body mass index than U.S. girls. Within Brazil, body mass index varied by ethnicity with Mulattos, but not Blacks, of both sexes having lower body mass index than Whites of the same age. Urban adolescents had higher body mass index than those living in rural areas. In general, the patterns seen among Brazilian adults were found among children. Among girls, in particular, overweight has become an identifiable problem during adolescence.
High temporal, geographic, and income variation in body mass index among adults in Brazil.
OBJECTIVES: Population-based data on body mass index for developing countries are scarce. Body mass index data from two Brazilian surveys were examined to determine regional and temporal variations in the prevalences of underweight, overweight, and obesity. METHODS: Nationwide surveys in 1974/75 and 1989 collected anthropometric data in Brazil from 55,000 and 14,455 households, respectively. Trained interviewers used the same methods to measure weight and stature in both surveys, and survey designs were identical. Prevalences of underweight, overweight, and obesity were determined for persons 18 years of age and older. RESULTS: In the 1989 survey, body mass index varied greatly according to region of the country, urbanization, and income. In the wealthier South, the prevalence of overweight/obesity was the highest and the prevalence of underweight was the lowest; in the poorer rural Northeast, these patterns were reversed. For both surveys, overweight/obesity was more common among women than among men and peaked at age 45 to 64 years in both sexes. Over the 15 years between surveys, the prevalence of both overweight and obesity increased strikingly. CONCLUSIONS: In contrast to findings in developed countries, obesity in Brazil was positively associated with income and was much more prevalent among women than among men. For Brazilian women, the overall prevalence of overweight was nearly as high as that among women in the United States.