Dois ensaios sobre a obesidade feminina no Brasil

Abstract

The objective of this dissertation is to measure socioeconomic inequalities in obesity as well as to canvass the factors associated of obesity for Brazilian women in fertile age from 20 to 49 years using data from 2006 Pesquisa Nacional de Demografia e Saúde da Criança e da Mulher (PNDS). Obesity is considered the biggest public health problem not recognized faced by contemporary society. Nowadays overweight and obesity are more recurrent causes of death of individuals than malnutrition. Socioeconomic information, demographic aspects and lifestyle of women were analyzed through the estimation of indexes and concentration curves plus a logit model to determinate the main factors associated to overweight. The results show that there is a great concentration of obesity on the lower rungs of the income and schooling distribution. The evidences also show that there is a negative relation between obesity and income variables, schooling and smoking habit. Furthermore, the place of residence influences the determination of these morbidities.