Gustavo Velásquez Meléndez

Temporal variation in the prevalence of weight and obesity excess in adults: Brazil, 2006 to 2009

Overweight and obesity are public health issues that affect an important part of the world population. This study aims at describing the trends in overweight and obesity prevalence rates from 2006 to 2009, by means of telephone surveys in 27 Brazilian cities, with a population aged 18 years or older. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated by the reported height and weight; overweight and obesity were considered as BMI >25 kg/m² and >30 kg/m², respectively. Temporal variation in overweight and obesity prevalence is presented for men and women, according to age group, schooling, stable relationship, and skin color. Poisson regression was used for the analysis. Overweight prevalence was 43.0, 42.7, 44.2 and 46.6%,for each year of the period from 2006 to 2009, respectively. For obesity, in the same period, the trend was: 11.4, 12.7, 13.2 and 13.8%. The temporal trend varied in relation to some demographic and socioeconomic variables. The prevalence was higher among women and young adults. The temporal trend was independent of the relationship status of the interviewees, but the prevalence was higher among white women and those with less years of schooling. The results in this study confirmed the urgent need for effective prevention and control measures, as the increasing trend is occurring in a short period of time, especially among youngsters.

Factors associated with body mass index in Brazilian children: structural equation model

INTRODUCTION Overweight and obesity in children is an important global problem. Its prevalence is increasing in developed and developing countries. OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to evaluate the association between socioeconomic conditions, maternal body mass index (BMI), food security, and intake of obesogenic foods on excess body weight in children. METHODS A cross-sectional study was conducted, using the data of 3,676 children from the latest National Demographic and Health Survey in Brazil. The childrens BMI was the study outcome. Socioeconomic condition, maternal BMI, food security, and intake of obesogenic foods were use as predictors. structural equation models were used for analysis. RESULTS Socioeconomic conditions directly influenced the childrens BMI (β = 0.102; p = 0.02), mediated by intake of obesogenic foods (β = 0.018; p = 0.04). A direct association was observed between maternal and child BMIs (β = 0.169; p < 0.001) and intake of obesogenic foods and child BMI (β = 0.114; p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS Favorable socioeconomic conditions, increased maternal BMI, and intake of obesogenic foods contributed to increased child BMI.

Distribuição espacial da obesidade em área urbana no Brasil

The spatial distribution of a disease is important for the diagnosis and epidemiological understanding of the health situation and trends, enabling a better grasp of the factors that determine the health status of populations. The scope of the study was to analyze the spatial distribution of obesity in adults in Belo Horizonte. This cross-sectional study was developed by Telephone Survey from the database for 2008 to 2010 of the Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases. Obesity was defined as body mass index 30 kg/m2. A georeferenced base with the environmental data of addresses and zip codes of the location was developed and spatial scan statistics were employed. A comparative analysis of environmental variables related to clusters of higher and lower prevalence of obesity was conducted. A cluster of obese individuals without statistical significance was found in the central area of the city. Also, a significant cluster of non-obese individuals was found in the eastern area of the city. These findings suggest that reasons for low prevalence of obesity in urban Brazilian areas could be related to better social organization and high availability of places for food stores and the practice of physical activity.

Diagnóstico situacional: perfil sociodemográfico e clínico de pacientes internados em unidade de clínica médica

The Situational Diagnosis of Nursing and Health (DSES) is a method for the identification and analysis of a reality and its needs. It istherefore useful to design organization/reorganization proposals. The characterization of the population served by a particular health service is one of the available ways of making a DSES. This is a quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional study. We aimed to identify the characteristics of patients admitted to the functional unit of Clinical Medicine of a university hospital in Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. The study sample was composed of 442 adult patients, who were 18 years old or older, and had been admitted to one of the 67 beds of the functional units until 12 pm of the day before data collection. Data collection took place from May through November 2012. There was a predominance of females (N = 243), aged between 46 and 60 years (N = 140), of white ethnicity (N = 213), eutrophic (N = 179) and nonsmokers (N = 225). In this study, the most prescribed continuous-use drugs were anticoagulants (N = 261). As for baseline diseases, there was a predominance of neurological and mental diseases (N = 81). We also analyzed the incidence of PU, since it is an indicator of quality of care. The incidence of PUs was 5.66% and the sacral region (33.33%) was the most affected area. Identifying the characteristics of patients admitted to Clinical Medicine units is crucial for the provision of qualified care.