PURPOSE: to determine the prevalence of overweight, obesity, and associated factors among women who visited a general gynecologic clinic in a secondary hospital of reference. METHODS: the following variables were studied: age, race, educational level, family income, job (paid work done by the women), type of the women's job, current partner, menstrual cycle characteristics at the time of interview, and body mass index (BMI). The patients were divided into three groups, according to their BMI values: <25 kg/m² (normal), between 25-29 kg/m² (overweight) and >30 kg/m² (obesity). The odds ratio (OR) and respective 95% confidence interval (95% CI) were calculated in the overweight and obese groups. Subsequently, the OR was calculated and adjusted for other variables. RESULTS: among the 676 studied women, 89.8% had received up to 8 years of formal education, 83.0% had a partner, 77.6% were Caucasian, 61.4% earned less than 5 minimum wages, and 36.0% of these women were menopausal. The prevalence of overweight was 35.6% and of obesity 24.6%. Overweight was related to age ranging from 50 to 59 years (OR: 3.22; 95% CI: 1.67-6.20) and menopause (OR: 1.52; 95% CI: 1.03-2.26), and obesity was related to menopause (OR: 2.57; 95% CI: 1.66-4.00) and to age range above 40 years (OR: 2.95; 95% CI: 1.37-6.37). According to the multiple regression analysis, only obesity was associated with age range above 40 years (OR: 2,51; 95% CI: 1.05-6.00). CONCLUSION: the prevalence rates of overweight and obesity were high in our sample of low-income women and those with less education. Obesity was associated with women aged over 40. Attempts should be made to reduce the prevalence of overweight and obesity in women.
Obesity; Primary care; Menopause
