Prevalence of and factors associated with overweight among university students from Rio Branco, Acre – Brazil

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of and factors associated with overweight among university students from the city of Rio Branco, Acre, Brazil. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 1,104 students (mean age: 24 years) from Rio Branco, Acre. Overweight was used as the dependent variable. The following independent variables were studied: socioeconomic variables (gender, age, teaching institution, period of study, marital status, income, household members, living with other people, parent’s education level, and working or not); self-reported health and morbidity variables (health perception, hypertension, diabetes, and altered cholesterol); lifestyle variables (physical activity, watching television, computer use, smoking, and alcohol consumption). The nutritional status was classified based on body mass index. Univariate analysis was performed using Pearson’s chi-squared test or Fisher’s exact test. Variables with a p value < 20% on univariate analysis were included in the multiple Poisson regression model. The prevalence of overweight was 35.6%. In the multiple regression model for male students adjusted for age, overweight was associated with marital status, household income, hypertension, and watching television every day. In the model for female students, the variables that remained associated were self-perceived health status, hypertension, and alcohol consumption in the last month. Overweight is determined by a combination of different factors which differed in the present study between men and women.