Prevalência de obesidade em idosos de grupos de terceira idade no município de Criciúma

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of obesity in elderly participants of the elderly community groups in a southern municipality of Santa Catarina. Methods: The research is a cross-sectional descriptive observational study with primary data collection and quantitative approach. Performed with 427 elderly members of the third age groups of city of Criciúma. The elderly were classified according to two cutoff points for Body Mass Index, proposed by the WHO (obesity ≥30kg/m2) and proposed by Lipschitz (overweight ≥27kg / m2). Risk factors were correlated as diabetes mellitus, hypertension, sedentary lifestyle. Results: The prevalence of obesity (body mass index ≥ 30 kg / m2) was 40, 7% for females and 22.1% for males; overweight defined body mass index≥27kg / m2 was 63.8% for women and for men 46.2%. Most of the population was female, widowers, with monthly income of 881.00 to 1760.00 reais, education up to four years, and do not exercise. Conclusion: The results indicate a high prevalence of obesity in the elderly, especially in women, and show that both body mass index classifications can be used for obesity measurement in the elderly, as the results, in general, were equivalent between the two classifications