title: Prevalence of visceral obesity estimated by predictive equation in young women from Pernambuco.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The accumulation of visceral fat is considered a major risk factor for cardiovascular and metabolic diseases.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of visceral obesity and to assess its association with cardiovascular risk factors in young women from the state of Pernambuco.
  
  
  METHODS
  Cross-sectional study carried out with data from the "III Health and Nutrition State Survey", involving women aged 25 to 36 years. The following variables were evaluated: body mass index (BMI), Waist Circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), volume of visceral fat (VVF) estimated by a predictive equation, Systolic and Diastolic Blood Pressure (SBP, DBP), total cholesterol (TC), Triglycerides (TG), fasting glucose (FG).
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 517 women were evaluated, with a median age of 29 years (27-32) and prevalence of visceral obesity of 30.6%. BMI, SBP, DBP and TG were higher in the group with visceral obesity: BMI = 28.0 kg/m2 (25.0 to 21.4) vs. 23.9 kg/m2 (21.5 to 26.4) , SBP = 120.0 mmHg (110.0 to 130.0) vs. 112.0 mmHg (100.0 to 122.0), DBP = 74 mmHg (70-80) vs. 70 mmHg (63-80); TG = 156.0 mg / dL (115.0 to 203.2) vs. 131.0 mg / dL (104.0 to 161.0), respectively, p < 0.01. Age, SBP, DBP, TG and TC levels were significantly and positively correlated with the VVF: r = 0.171, 0.224, 0.163, 0.278, 0.124 respectively, p < 0.005.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  A high prevalence of visceral obesity was observed, being statistically correlated with cardiovascular risk factors.
authors.affiliation: Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Recife, PE - Brazil. mpetribu@hotmail.com
authors.forename: Marina de Moraes Vasconcelos
authors.initials: Mde M
authors.lastname: Petribú
authors.forename: Poliana Coelho
authors.initials: PC
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: Alcides da Silva
authors.initials: Ada S
authors.lastname: Diniz
authors.forename: Pedro Israel Cabral de
authors.initials: PI
authors.lastname: Lira
authors.forename: Malaquias
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Batista Filho
authors.forename: Ilma Kruze Grande de
authors.initials: IK
authors.lastname: Arruda
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056128:Obesity, Abdominal / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012307:Risk Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D055815:Young Adult