Objective: To estimate overweight and obesity prevalence, and socioeconomic correlates in adults living in Ribeirão Preto city - SP, Brazil, in 2006.
Methods: A cross-sectional population-based epidemiological study was carried out in adults aged 30 years and older using three-stage cluster sampling: 81 census tracts were firstly selected, followed by 1,671 households and 1,205 individuals. The variability introduced in the third sampling fraction (individuals assortment) was corrected, resulting in a weighted sample of 2,197 participants. The nutritional status was classified in three categories (normal, overweight and obesity) according the Body Mass Index (BMI) cut-offs recommended by World Health Organization-2000 criteria. To investigate the nutritional status correlates, prevalence ratios were estimated by points and 95% confidence intervals, using Poisson regression.
Results: Overweight prevalence was higher in male (49.7%) than female (33.7%), whereas the obesity prevalence was higher in female (27.5%) than male (19.1%). In the final model, considering "overweight" as the outcome, the following variables were positively associated: the last two strata of age: "50-59" and "60 and older"; the "1st tertile" of income, and living "with partner". Females presented a protective effect compared to males. Considering "obesity", all the "age categories" and "marital status" were positively associated to the outcome.
Conclusion: Along with the high overweight and obesity prevalences in Ribeirão Preto, the detection of different sets of socioeconomic correlates pointed out the need of specific intervention strategies, focused on health promotion and chronic-degenerative diseases prevention in the population.