Secular growth trends in Brazil over three decades

Abstract

This study describes secular trends in physical growth in Brazil over a period of three decades. The study is based on two comparable national surveys undertaken in the mid-seventies and late eighties. Mean heights at ages 7 and 22 are estimated for three cohorts of males and females born around 1952, 1967 and 1982, respectively. Positive secular trends are found both between 1952 and 1967 and between 1967 and 1982. Modest height gains of around 1.0 cm per decade comparable to those described in developed countries during the second half of the 19th century are observed in the first period (1952-67). Outstanding height increments of around 2.4 cm per decade and comparable only to those described for Japanese children after 1950 are detected in the second period (1967-82). Height increments tending to higher values in the second period are seen for both sexes in the five Brazilian macroregions and in different economic strata. Even so, a large gap still separates the physical growth as observed in the north and northeast regions (and, generally speaking, among the poorest third of the Brazilian population) from the normal growth pattern expected when living conditions are adequate. Substantial income improvements over the seventies plus the continuous progress in the availability of sanitation, health and education services during the seventies and eighties are consistent with the exceptional height gains observed between the cohorts of 1967 and 1982. On the other hand, the tragic performance of the Brazilian economy during recent years plus the evidence that infant mortality rates did not decline in the eighties as they had done in the seventies may suggest a reduction in the speed of the positive trends in growth. If this hypothesis is true, the full development of the genetic growth potential of a large part of the Brazilian population will be postponed to a very remote future.

Relationship between stature, overweight and central obesity in the adult population in São Paulo, Brazil

“…National surveys undertaken in Brazil in the mid-1970s and late 1980s showed positive secular trends in physical growth since the 1950s, attributed to improvements in public services and population income. 24 On the other hand, in the National Nutrition Survey 25 carried out in Brazil in 1989, obesity and overweight have emerged as a public health problem. Furthermore, the low income population groups showed a higher prevalence of overweight and obesity, mainly in low-income women.…”

Estado nutricional de crianças índias terenas: evolução do peso e estatura e prevalência atual de anemia

“…18 Taking just the age group from 0 to 60 months, the values found in the present study (22.1% in 1995 and 12.2% in 2002) are comparable to those observed, in 1990, in another Terena village in do Mato Grosso do Sul state (16%) 9 and in the Xavantes of Mato Grosso (11.3%). 7 Studies undertaken in several different regions worldwide, including Brazil, 19,20 have revealed a secular tendency towards increased stature. An absence of this positive secular variation in stature can be interpreted in one of two ways: 1) As a nutritional deterioration in the socio-economic and cultural conditions of a population group, resulting in environmental conditions that are inadequate for growth; or 2) the population groups is living in ideal conditions and in the past has already fully expressed its genetic growth potential.…”

Tendência secular de crescimento em pré-escolares, Brasil

“…Alguns dos estudos realizados para estimar a tendência secular de crescimento, concluem que esta apresenta uma tendência positiva a partir da segunda metade do século XX; coincidentemente, época de maior desenvolvimento econômico e maior bem estar social 19,20 Em nosso meio existem poucos estudos sobre tendência de crescimento, o que dificulta comparações, principalmente por causa das diferenças metodológicas, pois a maioria dos estudos é realizado em populações de crianças em idade escolar ou em adultos (jovens recrutados pelo serviço militar), mostrando quase sempre apenas a tendência em relação à estatura. Apesar das diferenças metodológicas, a maioria dos aqui apresentados mostrou tendên-cia de crescimento positiva, que foi relacionada, do ponto de vista de causalidade com a melhoria nas condições de vida da população estudada.…”