Demographic and behavioral factors associated with abdominal obesity in women attending a health care unit in Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brazil

• Autor(a) principal: Ornelas OLIVEIRA, Edílson
• Data de Publicação: 2023
• Outros Autores: VELÁSQUEZ-MELÉNDEZ, Gustavo, KAC, Gilberto
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: Revista de Nutrição
• Texto Completo: https://periodicos.puc-campinas.edu.br/nutricao/article/view/9691
• topic: anthropometry; educational status; risk factors; women; obesity; parity; antropometria; escolaridade; fatores de risco; mulheres; obesidade; paridade

ObjectiveTo identify sociodemographic and behavioral variables potentially associated with abdominal obesity in women attending a health care unit. MethodsA total of 827 women aging from 12 to 65 years and living in the metropolitan area of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, were investigated using a cross-sectional design. Abdominal obesity was defined as waist circumference ≥88cm.The association between abdominal obesity and the co-variables was assessed by unconditional logistic regression. This technique estimates the odds ratio and the respective confidence intervals of 95%. ResultsThe highest prevalence of abdominal obesity was observed in women aging ≥51 years (63.3%) and women with ≥5 deliveries (53.8%). The following variables remained associated with abdominal obesity in the final model: age (Odds Ratio varied from 2.53 to 27.64), schooling <8 years (Odds Ratio=1.49, confidence intervals 95%: 1.02 - 2.18), parity 1 - 4 deliveries (Odds Ratio=1.80, confidence intervals 95%: 1.04 - 3.12), ≥5 deliveries (Odds Ratio=3.20, confidence intervals 95%: 1.48 - 6.90) and light physical activity at work (Odds Ratio=1.63, confidence intervals 95%: 1.01 - 2.64). Age and body mass index were also included in the final model to control for confounding. ConclusionSchooling and parity are important predictors of abdominal obesity in the studied group and studies on obesity should take them into account.