Socioeconomic determinants of excess weight and obesity among Indigenous women: findings from the First National Survey of Indigenous People’s Health and Nutrition in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: This article assesses the nutritional status of Indigenous women from 14 to 49 years of age in Brazil. Design: Sample size was calculated for each region considering a prevalence of 50 % for all disease outcomes, a relative error of 5 % and a CI of 95 %. In the initial data analysis, the prevalence of excess weight and obesity was calculated according to independent variables. Multivariate multilevel hierarchical analyses were conducted based on a theoretical model of two ranked blocks. Setting: The 2010 Indigenous population in Brazil was 896 000, with approximately 300 Indigenous ethnic groups, making Brazil one of the most ethnically diverse countries in the Americas and the world. Participants: Of the total target sample of 6722 women evaluated by the National Survey, thirty did not participate, 939 were not eligible for analyses due to pregnancy or unknown pregnancy status, and thirty-nine were excluded due to missing anthropometric data. Results: The evaluation of nutritional status was completed for 5714 non-pregnant women (99·3 % of eligible participants for this outcome). High prevalence rates were encountered for both excess weight (46·2 %) and obesity (15·8 %) among the sampled women. In the multivariate analyses, higher socioeconomic indicators, market-integrated living conditions and less reliance on local food production, as well as increased age and parity were associated with excess weight and obesity. Conclusion: Results point to distinct patterns of associations between socioeconomic indicators and the occurrence of excess weight and obesity among Indigenous women, which have potentially significant implications from a public policy perspective for Indigenous peoples in Brazil.

Social inequalities and household food insecurity in quilombola communities in Brazil

“…These regions have a higher proportion of rural areas and have historically been marked by poverty and worse socioeconomic and health indicators, which are reflected in the quilombola population [21,41,[43][44][45][46]. Due to the historical process of land occupation, these regions were more populated by ethnically different groups and have a higher proportion of communities certified and recognized as descendants of quilombolas [47].…”

Food Profiles of Indigenous Households in Brazil: Results of the First National Survey of Indigenous Peoples’ Health and Nutrition

“…Women's and children's anemia were higher in the North (46.3% and 66.4%, respectively) and lower in the Northeast (22.8% and 41.1%, respectively) (Borges et al 2016;Leite et al 2013). These results suggest a double burden of malnutrition among Indigenous peoples in Brazil, with the South/Southeast most burdened by obesity and anemia in adults (Borges et al 2016;Coimbra et al 2020) and the North most burdened by stunting and anemia in children under five years (Horta et al 2013;Leite et al 2013).…”

“…For example, results of the First National Survey of Indigenous People's Health and Nutrition in Brazil (henceforth, the National Survey) show the prevalence of obesity among women > 14 years differed by region, with the highest value in the South/Southeast (22.6%), and the lowest in the North (6.1%). Besides region, significant determinant factors included higher socioeconomic status, market-integrated living conditions, and less reliance on local food production (Coimbra Jr. et al 2020). In contrast, the same study also showed low height-for-age (stunting) in children < 5 was most prevalent in the North (40.8%) and least in the Northeast (13.9%), with significant determinant factors including region, socioeconomic status, access to sanitation services, and prior hospitalization (Horta et al 2013).…”

High blood pressure levels and cardiovascular risk among Munduruku indigenous people

“…This finding is worrying both for the group under study and for other ethnicities. In addition to this, it reinforces the need for studies that show the risk factors for CNCDs, such as obesity, which are disproportionately more prevalent among some ethnic minorities, people of lower socioeconomic status and rural populations in most Latin American countries ( 7 , 34 ) .…”