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Sustainable Development Goals
01 Erradicação da pobreza02 Fome zero e agricultura sustentável
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NUTRITION TRANSITION IN AMAZONIA: OBESITY AND SOCIOECONOMIC CHANGE IN THE SURUÍ INDIANS FROM BRAZIL
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Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane. Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Instituto Leônidas e Maria Deane. Manaus, AM, Brazil.
Fundação Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de Saúde Pública Sergio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro. RJ, Brazil.
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to assess the nutritional status of the adult Suruı´ population, an indigenous
society from the Brazilian Amazon, as it relates to socioeconomic conditions. Fieldwork was carried out in February–
March 2005, including 252 individuals (88.1% of the total eligible subjects older than 20 years of age in the villages
surveyed). Anthropometric measurements were performed following standard procedures, and percentage of body fat
(%BF) was measured by bioimpedance. To classify the Suruı´ according to socioeconomic status (SES), an index was constructed
based on a group of variables to characterize socioeconomic differentiation. Evaluated by body mass index
(BMI), the majority of Suruı´ 20–49.9 years of age were overweight (42.3%) or obese (18.2%). The frequency of obesity for
women (24.5%) was twice that recorded for men. Subjects classified as overweight or obese also showed high %BF and
waist circumference (WC). Women in the high SES category showed higher anthropometric values (including weight,
BMI, arm fat area, and WC) and %BF than those of lower SES. This study shows that the Suruı´ are undergoing a rapid
process of nutrition transition. This transition is closely associated with the emergence of intragroup differences in SES
which have impacted diet and physical activity patterns. In research in indigenous peoples in Amazonia, greater attention
should be paid to the human biological outcomes of socioeconomic transformations related to the growing involvement
of native societies in the market economy. Am. J. Hum. Biol.
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