Factors Associated with Overweight and Obesity in Adults from Rio Branco, Acre in the Western Brazilian Amazon

Abstract

This study aimed to assess factors associated with overweight and obesity in adults from Rio Branco, Acre, in the western Brazilian Amazon. This is a cross-sectional, population-based study conducted in Rio Branco, which used data on individuals aged 18 years or older collected by the 2019 National Health Survey. Software R version 4.0.5 was used to estimate the prevalence of overweight and obesity, prevalence ratios, and 95% confidence intervals. Multiple analysis was performed by Poisson’s regression with robust variance and hierarchical selection of variables. This study included 1217 adults. The prevalence of overweight was 58.2% (95%CI: 54.7–61.6) and of obesity, 20.1% (95%CI: 17.2–23.4). The factors associated with overweight were arterial hypertension (AdjPR: 1.45; 95%CI: 1.31–1.61), physical inactivity (AdjPR: 1.19; 95%CI: 1.04–1.36), age group (25–39 years, AdjPR: 1.49; 95%CI: 1.10–2.00; 40–59 years, AdjPR: 1.69; 95%CI: 1.28–2.23; 60 years or older, AdjPR: 1.37; 95%CI: 1.01–1.87); and smoking (AdjPR: 0.62; 95%CI: 0.41–0.93). The factors associated with obesity were arterial hypertension (AdjPR: 1.80; 95%CI: 1.41–2.30) and diabetes mellitus (AdjPR: 1.52; 95%CI: 1.08–2.13). Smoking and female sex remained in the hierarchical model for obesity, even without statistical significance. Despite intervention guidelines for these chronic diseases, there is a need for the public recognition of overweight and obesity and their possible associated factors in the Amazon and other regions with similar socioeconomic and demographic characteristics.