Socioeconomic inequalities in abdominal obesity in Brazilian female adolescents: a national-based study

The aim of the present study was to identify the prevalence of abdominal obesity and verify the socioeconomic inequities in abdominal obesity among female adolescents from all regions of Brazil. A cross sectional nationwide study was carried out on abdominal obesity with 2,488 women aged 15 to 19 years in the National Survey on Demography and Health of Women and Children (PNDS), 2006. Abdominal obesity was identified based on waist circumference (WC). Demographic and socioeconomic data (age, skin color, schooling level, socioeconomic status, area of residence, geographic region, marital status, and private health insurance) were collected. Poisson regression was used for multivariate analysis. The prevalence of abdominal obesity was 24.7 % (95 % confidence intervals; 20.9, 28.3). The mean WC value was 74.1 cm (SD = 9.3). Adolescents who studied fewer years, those living in a socially and economically more developed region and those who had a partner, showed higher prevalence of abdominal obesity. Effective actions to reduce abdominal obesity include equitable early childhood development programs and education and interventions within the health systems should be complemented with population-based policies specifically designed to reduce socioeconomic inequalities.