Overweight and obesity are public health issues that affect an important part of the world population. This study aims at describing the trends in overweight and obesity prevalence rates from 2006 to 2009, by means of telephone surveys in 27 Brazilian cities, with a population aged 18 years or older. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated by the reported height and weight; overweight and obesity were considered as BMI >25 kg/m² and >30 kg/m², respectively. Temporal variation in overweight and obesity prevalence is presented for men and women, according to age group, schooling, stable relationship, and skin color. Poisson regression was used for the analysis. Overweight prevalence was 43.0, 42.7, 44.2 and 46.6%,for each year of the period from 2006 to 2009, respectively. For obesity, in the same period, the trend was: 11.4, 12.7, 13.2 and 13.8%. The temporal trend varied in relation to some demographic and socioeconomic variables. The prevalence was higher among women and young adults. The temporal trend was independent of the relationship status of the interviewees, but the prevalence was higher among white women and those with less years of schooling. The results in this study confirmed the urgent need for effective prevention and control measures, as the increasing trend is occurring in a short period of time, especially among youngsters.
obesity; overweight; prevalence; time series studies; body mass index; adult
