Overweight and factors associated in civil servants from Southern Brazil

Abstract

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of overweight and investigate its association with sociodemographic factors, physical activity level, hypercholesterolemia, and diabetes in civil servants of a university in the state of Paraná, Brazil. The research was conducted with 339 civil servants aged above 18 years. Overweight was analyzed by self-reported body mass index. Physical activity level was evaluated using a questionnaire. Sociodemographic data (sex, age, economic status, educational level, marital status, and working hours) and information on the chronic diseases of interest (hypercholesterolemia and diabetes) were obtained from self-report. The association between overweight and the other variables was investigated using binary logistic regression. The prevalence of overweight was 50.6%. The groups most susceptible to overweight were: male civil servants (OR: 2.04; CI: 1.30-3.22), those less than 12 years of education (OR: 2.46; CI: 1.43-4.23), who were insufficiently active (OR: 1.64; CI: 1.03-2.60), and those with hypercholesterolemia (OR: 2.28; CI: 1.32-3.96). This study concluded that more than a half of the sample was overweight and that this condition was associated with male sex, educational level below 12 years, insufficient physical activity, and hypercholesterolemia.