International Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 33, Number 1, pp. 100-106
IJE vol.33 no.1 © International Epidemiological Association 2004; all rights reserved.
Special Theme: Perinatal and early-life influences on disease |
Association of weight change with ethnicity and life course socioeconomic position among Brazilian civil servants
1 Department of Epidemiology, National School of Public Health, Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, R Leopoldo Bulhoes 1480, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 21041–210, Brazil. E-mail: dorinha{at}ensp.fiocruz.br
2 Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de Janeiro, R Sao Francisco Xavier 524, 7th Floor, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20550–900, Brazil. E-mail: eduardof{at}uerj.br
3 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 S Observatory Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2029, USA. E-mail: gkaplan{at}umich.edu
4 Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 109 S Observatory Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109–2029, USA. E-mail: jwlynch{at}umich.edu
5 Department of Epidemiology, Institute of Social Medicine, State University of Rio de Janeiro, R Sao Francisco Xavier 524, 7th Floor, Rio de Janeiro, RJ 20550–900, Brazil. E-mail: lopes{at}uerj.br
Background Adult weight gain is generally associated with ethnicity of African descent, in addition to low socioeconomic position (SEP), but little information is available from the African diaspora in less-developed countries. We evaluated ethnic differences in adult weight change and the role of life course SEP in those differences.
Methods We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of baseline data (1999–2001) from 2594 non-faculty civil servants working at university campuses in Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and participating in the longitudinal Pró-Saúde Study. Weight and height were measured at study entry whereas ethnicity, markers of SEP, and weight at age 20 were assessed through self-administered questionnaire.
Results Black and mulatto women gained, respectively, an excess of 1.6 kg and 1.2 kg per 10 years of adult life, compared with whites. After adjustment for markers of participants' early and later-life SEP, the estimates of excess weight gain for black and mulatto women decreased by about one-third, but a statistically significant estimate was still observed for black women. Among men, neither unadjusted nor adjusted ethnic gradients in weight gain were relevant.
Conclusions Only among women, black and mulatto ethnicity was associated with increased weight gain, which was partially explained through the association with their lower SEP.
Keywords Weight gain, obesity, ethnicity, socioeconomic factors, Brazil
Accepted 26 June 2003
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