title: Body size dynamics in young adults: 8-year follow up of cohorts in Brazil and Thailand.
abstract: Increase in body size has appeared as an epidemic in Western countries and is now rapidly emerging in low- and middle-income countries, contributing to the rise in non-communicable diseases worldwide. Brazil and Thailand have gone through similar economic and health transitions, and this unique comparative study investigates changes in body size (body mass index) in relation to socioeconomic status in two cohorts of similar age followed from 2004/2005 to 2012/2013. At 20-24 years of age, Pelotas cohort members had a much higher prevalence of overweight and obesity (20.7 and 8.6%) than the Thai cohort (6.0 and 1.7%); these proportions rose to 34.6% and 22.9% vs 15.8% and 5.1%, respectively, in their early 30s. An association between a higher socioeconomic status and increase in overweight and obesity was observed among males; but an inverse pattern was noted for females in both cohorts and remained statistically significant after 8 years of follow up. Our comparative longitudinal analyses highlight the relationship between two middle-income settings facing rapid increases in body size (2-3 fold increase in the rate of overweight and obesity). Long-term follow up and a lifecourse approach for effective prevention of obesity will minimize adverse health burdens in later life.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing and National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yiengprugsawan
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Programme in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Horta
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Programme in Health and Behavior, Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: J V S
authors.initials: JV
authors.lastname: Motta
authors.affiliation: Postgraduate Programme in Epidemiology, Universidade Federal de Pelotas, Pelotas, Brazil.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gigante
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing and National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.|School of Human Ecology, Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, Nonthaburi, Thailand.
authors.forename: S-A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Seubsman
authors.affiliation: Centre for Research on Ageing, Health & Wellbeing and National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Research School of Population Health, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Sleigh
mesh_terms: D015992:Body Mass Index; D049628:Body Size / Q000502:physiology*; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000453:epidemiology*; D050177:Overweight / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012923:Social Class; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013785:Thailand / Q000453:epidemiology; D055815:Young Adult