Baixa estatura, obesidade abdominal e fatores de risco cardiovascular em mulheres de baixa renda.

Abstract

Population studies about nutritional status have demonstrated that overweight is a serious public health problem in affluent societies and developing countries alike, particularly for underprivileged urban women. Research has upheld the hypothesis of an association between short stature (a marker of undernutrition early in life) and obesity, thus suggesting that early undernutrition might be a risk factor for morbidity in adult life. With the purpose of studying this association in populations of low income, this study describes aspects about the correlation among low stature, abdominal obesity and the emergence of risk factors for cardiovascular disease in women residents in an area of low income of Maceió-Al. To investigate this hypothesis a total of 160 women aged 18 to 45 years and who had abdominal obesity were divided into stature quartiles. They were evaluated for socio-demographic, anthropometric, and biochemical parameters. Comparisons were drawn between women in the first and fourth quartiles. Data analysis was carried out using the SPSS 13.0 software. Woman with short stature (SS), were a smaller education level (p < 0,05). Average WHR in women with SS was significantly higher than in normal stature women (0.89±0.07 versus 0.86±0.06; p = 0.008). The risk of hypertension was 5 times greater for women with SS than for those in the highest height quartile (odds ratio 5.27; IC 95% 1.05-26.4). A higher BMI led to an inverse and significant relationship between SS and CRPhs, glycemia, insulinemia, and insulin resistance (HOMA IR), and to a decline in beta cell function (HOMA %B). The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was higher in these women when compared to overweight and normal stature women. Women with short stature were a greater prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors as overweight, hypertension, insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome, as compared to women in the highest height quartile.