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RESEARCH PAPERS

Body size and obesity patterns in Caboclo populations from Pará, Amazonia, Brazil

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Pages 218-230 | Received 07 Oct 2008, Accepted 02 Sep 2009, Published online: 23 Dec 2009
 

Abstract

Background: In many developing countries overweight, obesity and obesity-related morbidity are becoming a problem of increasing public health importance. The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in body size and body composition with age in adults of the Caboclo populations from the Brazilian Amazon as well as to examine the prevalence of overweight and obesity in adults aged 20–75 years, taking into account recent trends for the whole country. Caboclo are genetically and culturally admixed rural peasant groups that live along the Amazon River and its tributaries in Brazil, and there are few previous studies of their health and lifestyle.

Subjects and methods: A total of 304 subjects (149 males and 155 females) from two socioecologically different areas were studied. Height, weight and skinfolds (tricipital, subscapular and suprailiac) were measured; international intervals (WHO) for overweight and obesity were used.

Results: Women showed significantly lower values than men for height, weight, upper arm circumference and fat-free mass and higher values for triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds and body fat (%). In the overall sample combined overweight and obesity was 47.8% in men and 50.8% in women. When compared to recent values published for the Northern region and for the whole of Brazil, 20.5% of Caboclo women aged 20–75 years were obese, which is higher than all other populations, including other rural samples. Caboclo men showed the highest rates of obesity (9.1%) and overweight (39.1%) of any rural population from the country, including Northern Brazil.

Conclusion: The results suggest an effect of increased Western lifestyle influence on the body composition of these Caboclo populations. Considering that these are rural populations with limited access to education and health care, the high prevalence of overweight and obesity associated with low socio-economic status makes them a vulnerable group that deserves a higher level of attention by the country's public health authorities.

Acknowledgements

This research could not have been completed without the collaboration of many institutions and colleagues. First, thanks are due to the communities of Caxiuanã and Ituqui Island for their participation in the study. Thanks to CNPq/Brazil, to the Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi (MPEG), the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Natural Resources (IBAMA) in Breves, and the Projeto Várzea/UFPA/IPAM, for their financial and logistic support. H.P.S. also thanks the Department of Anthropology of The Ohio State University for support during his dissertation work in the USA. Thanks are also due to Douglas Crews, Gene Poirier, David McGrath, Rui Murrieta and Pedro Lisboa, for their friendship and support during field work.

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