Association between ethnicity and population overweight/obesity in Brazil
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.11606/issn.2176-7262.rmrp.2023.198948Keywords:
Racial inequality in health, Obesity, Eating behavior, Body mass index, OverweightAbstract
Introduction: Obesity is a multifactorial, chronic, and progressive disease that affects considerable portions of the world and Brazilian populations. Studies show that societies and environments with higher levels of structural racism can trigger higher levels of obesity prevalence in their marginalized populations. Thus, the greater vulnerability of populations of black ethnicity in Brazil, resulting from the structural and institutional racism established, leads to higher rates of overweight and obesity caused by the inability of such populations to guarantee food security. Objective: This study aimed to analyze the evolution of the prevalence of overweight and obesity in white and black populations in Brazil, evaluating eating habits with the potential to promote obesity. In addition, we aimed to relate the worsening of the populational BMI in Brazil with ethnicity and structural racism present in Brazilian society. Method: This investigation is a descriptive cross-sectional study. Twelve standardized questions from the VIGITEL survey were selected from 2011 to 2020. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Student's T-test was applied to compare ethnic groups. Results: The results, in general, show that individuals of the black ethnic group have a higher degree of BMI (Kg/m2) compared to the white ethnic group. BMI (Kg/m2) data for Brazilian capitals show that both in 2011 and 2020, the averages of the evaluated index were higher among the black population, presenting 26.03 Kg/m2 and 27.07 Kg/m2, respectively, while individuals declared white had averages of 25.7 Kg/m2 and 26.45 Kg/m2 in the same years. The average BMI in 2011 to 2020, of 25.99 Kg/m2 for the white ethnicity, and of 26.50 Kg/m2 for the black ethnicity, indicates overweight at the national level. In addition, the average consumption of vegetables was lower among black people, which showed a higher food frequency in the consumption of soft drinks or artificial juice than the white people, presenting, in general, a lower quality diet. Conclusion: The average BMI and the prevalence of overweight are increasing in the populations of the capitals of Brazil, being this increase more accentuated in the populations of black ethnicity. It was also observed that the populations of black ethnicity have a lower quality in their diet compared to the diet of the white population.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Thaís da Luz Fontoura Pinheiro, Lenise David da Silva, Carollyne Maragoni Santos, Gabriel Mutschal de Oliveira, Dalciomar Pimentel Borba, Eduardo Botti Abbade
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