ABSTRACT OBJECTIVE To evaluate the accuracy of information on pre-gestational weight, height, pre-gestational body mass index, and weight at the last prenatal appointment, according to maternal characteristics and sociodemographic and prenatal variables. METHODS The study was developed using data from the face-to-face questionnaire and prenatal card (gold standard) of the study “Birth in Brazil, 2011–2012”. To evaluate the differences between the measured and self-reported anthropometric variables, we used the the Kruskal-Wallis test for the variables divided into quartiles. For the […]

This study is part of a larger epidemiological study concerned with the health status of children under the age of five carried out in the squatter settlement of Rocinha, and focuses on the nutritional profile of a representative sample of 591 children. According to the weight-for-age criteria (Gomez’s classification), 23,9% and 2,0% were, respectively, mildly and moderately malnourished. This finding is in agreement with the assessment using weight-for-height and height-for-age as anthropometric indicators: (a) absence of acute malnutrition (wasting) indicated […]

The prevalence of obesity in Araraquara, a county of 150,000 inhabitants situated 250 km from S. Paulo, Brazil was studied. The study population, of 18-74 yrs. of age, resident in the urban area in 1987, was composed of 1,126 inhabitants, 502 males and 624 females, selected through a cluster equiprobabilistic sampling process. The prevalence of overweight (Quetelet 25-29.9 Kg/m²) was 26.9% for males and 27.7% for females. The prevalence of obesity (Quetelet equal or greater than 30.0 kg/m²) was 10.2% […]

OBJECTIVE: Evaluate the validity of self-reported weight and height and the body mass index (BMI). METHODS: A study was made of 3,713 employees of a public university in Rio de Janeiro, in which they were participants in Phase 1 of a longitudinal study. Information was obtained through a self-administered questionnaire, and measurements were carried out after its application. Student’s paired t-test, Bland & Altman’s graphs and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) were utilized to evaluate the differences between the measured […]

In order to evaluate the validity of self-reported weight for use in obesity prevalence surveys, self-reported weight was compared to measured weight for 659 adults living in the Porto Alegre county, RS Brazil in 1986-87, both weights being obtained by a technician in the individual’s home on the same visit. The mean difference between self-reported and measured weight was small (-0.06 +/- 3.16 kg; mean +/- standard deviation), and the correlation between reported and measured weight was high (r=0.97). Sixty-two […]

The dynamics of weight gain were studied in 95 preterm adequate for gestational age infants between birth and their 6th post-term month. The infants were divided into 4 groups according to the number of weeks of gestation at birth, i.e., 33, 34, 35 and 36 weeks, respectively. To compare the results, weight gains were studied for each group of the same corrected ages up to the 64th week of post-menstrual age, corresponding to the 6th post-term month. Weigth gain was […]

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between abdominal circumference and weight-for-height in children. The average of 18 anthropometric and body proportionality indexes were compared among four groups of children: stunted and non-stunted Brazilians, Peruvians and North-Americans. METHODS: There were studied 386 children aged 6-59 months living in a poor neighborhood in Pelotas, Brazil. Anthropometric measurements (weight, recumbent length or height, sitting height or crown-rump length; head, chest, upper arm and abdominal circumferences; triceps, biceps, subescapular […]

INTRODUCTION: Self-reported weight and height were compared with direct measurements in order to evaluate the agreement between the two sources. METHOD: Data were obtained from a cross-sectional study on health status from a probabilistic sample of 1,183 employees of a bank, in Rio de Janeiro State, Brazil. Direct measurements were made of 322 employees. Differences between the two sources were evaluated using mean differences, limits of agreement and intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS: Men and women tended to […]

OBJECTIVE: The effects of maternal nutritional status on the duration of breastfeeding are inconsistent in the literature. A population-based cohort study was set to investigate this relationship. METHODS: Nine hundred and seventy seven mothers giving birth in 1993 (20% of that year’s births) were studied. Studied maternal characteristics included nutritional status, social, economic, and demographic variables. The effects of these variables on the prevalence of breastfeeding at six months were analyzed through logistic regression. Cox regression was applied to analyze […]

OBJECTIVE: In an attempt to simplify the screening process for detecting obesity in adolescence, the performance of different cutoff values for body mass index (BMI) was assessed in a population-based cohort in Southern Brazil. METHODS: A total of 493 adolescents aged 15-16 years who lived in the city of Pelotas, Brazil, were studied. Obesity was defined according to the WHO criteria taking into account age and sex (a BMI equal to or greater than the 85th percentile of the NHANES […]