 Trends in overweight among adolescents living in the poorest and richest regions of BrazilG.V. Da Veiga, A.S. Da Cunha and R. Sichieri American Journal of Public Health, 2004, vol. 94, issue 9, 1544-1548 Abstract: Objectives. We assessed changes in body mass index (BMI) among Brazilian adolescents. Methods. In 1975, 1989, and 1997, we conducted household surveys of the weights and statures of a probabilistic sample of about 50000 Brazilian adolescents aged 10 to 19 years. Weighted prevalences were calculated and an analysis was performed with the sample design taken into account. Results. Adolescents of rich (southeast) and poor (northeast) regions showed a substantial increase in BMI. In the southeast, the prevalence of overweight, defined by international age- and gender-specific BMI cutoffs, for both genders reached 17% in 1997, whereas in the northeast, the prevalence tripled, reaching 5% among boys and 12% among girls. Older girls living in urban areas in the southeast showed a decrease in prevalence from 16% to 13% in the latter 2 surveys. For all boys and for young girls, the BMI values for the 85th percentile in 1997 were much higher than the 95th percentile values in 1975. Conclusions. BMI increased dramatically in Brazilian adolescents, mainly among boys; among older girls from the richest region, the prevalence of overweight is decreasing. Date: 2004 There are no downloads for this item, see the EconPapers FAQ for hints about obtaining it. Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:2004:94:9:1544-1548_0 Access Statistics for this article American Journal of Public Health is currently edited by Alfredo Morabia More articles in American Journal of Public Health from American Public Health Association |
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