Abstract
IntroductionObesity is a worldwide public health issue. Since the epidemiological behaviour of this disease is not well established in our country, the purpose of this study was to determinate its prevalence in the Maracaibo City, Zulia State- Venezuela.Materials and MethodsA cross-sectional study was undertaken using the data set from the Maracaibo City Metabolic Syndrome Prevalence Study. The sample consists of 2108 individuals from both genders and randomly selected: 1119 (53.09%) women and 989 (46.91%) men. The participants were interrogated for a complete clinical history and anthropometric measurements. To classify obesity, the WHO criteria for Body Mass Index (BMI), and Waist Circumference (WC) from the IDF/NHLBI/AHA/WHF/IAS/IASO-2009 (IDF-2009) and ATPIII statements were applied.ResultsFor BMI, obesity had an overall prevalence of 33.3% (n = 701), and according to gender women had 32.4% (n = 363) and men had 34.2% (n = 338). Overweight had a prevalence of 34.8% (n = 733), Normal weight had 29.8% (n = 629), and Underweight had 2.1% (n = 45). Adding Obesity and Overweight results, the prevalence of elevated BMI (>25 Kg/m2) was 68.1%. Using the IDF-2009 WC's cut-off, Obesity had 74.2% prevalence, compared to 51.7% using the ATPIII parameters.ConclusionsThese results show a high prevalence of abdominal obesity in our locality defined by the WHO, IDF-2009 and ATPIII criteria, which were not designed for Latin-American populations. We suggest further investigation to estimate the proper values according to ethnicity, genetic background and sociocultural aspects.
Highlights
Obesity is a worldwide public health issue
For Body Mass Index calculation (BMI), obesity had an overall prevalence of 33.3% (n = 701), and according to gender women had 32.4% (n = 363) and men had 34.2% (n = 338)
Using the IDF-2009 Waist Circumference (WC)’s cut-off, Obesity had 74.2% prevalence, compared to 51.7% using the ATPIII parameters. These results show a high prevalence of abdominal obesity in our locality defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), IDF-2009 and ATPIII criteria, which were not designed for Latin-American populations
Summary
Obesity is a worldwide public health issue. Since the epidemiological behaviour of this disease is not well established in our country, the purpose of this study was to determinate its prevalence in the Maracaibo City, Zulia StateVenezuela. Prevalence estimates of obesity usually are derived from surveys or population studies because systematic data on obesity generally cannot be gathered from medical records or vital statistics [1,2]. All data on prevalence and trends are derived on indirect body fat measurements based on weight and height (total adiposity) or using regional measures (plicometry) rather than on body fat because of the logistical difficulties involved in measuring body fat in population studies [1,2]. Obesity generally is defined as excess body fat but the definition of ‘‘excess’’, is not clear-cut. It is difficult to measure body fat directly and obesity is often defined as excess body weight rather than as excess of fatness. In large epidemiologic and clinical studies, two basic approaches have been broadly used: The Body Mass Index calculation (BMI) and the waist circumference measurement (WC) [3]
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