Prevalence of obesity and association of body mass index with risk factors in public school teachers

Abstract

The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of overweight and obesity and the association of body mass index (BMI) with cardiovascular risk factors in public school teachers. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 200 basic education teachers from Viçosa, MG. We assessed BMI, waist circumference (WC), waist-hip ratio (WHR), body fat percentage (%BF), systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, high-density and low-density lipoprotein (LDL-C), triglycerides, and number of daily steps. Linear regression was used to evaluate the associations between BMI (independent variable) and the other variables (dependent variable). Overweight was observed in 58% of the teachers and obesity in 20%. Among women, all risk factors differed significantly between the group with overweight and/or obesity and the group classified as normal BMI, except for total cholesterol and LDL-C. Linear regression analysis showed a positive association between BMI and the other anthropometric measurements, blood pressure, and biochemical parameters; however, after adjustment for age, an association was only observed with the anthropometric variables (WC, WHR, and %BF). The prevalence of overweight/obesity was high among the basic education teachers studied. The overall obesity indicator (BMI) was not associated with cardiovascular risk factors when adjusted for age.