Malnutrition in all its forms and social inequalities in Brazil

Abstract

Objective: To describe malnutrition (undernutrition and excess weight) by income, education and race/ethnicity in the Brazilian population.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting: Brazil.

Participants: Children aged <5 years (n 14 580), adolescents aged 11-19 years (n 31 892) and adults aged 20-49 years (n 84 660).

Results: Among children, prevalence of excess weight, wasting and stunting was 16·9, 2·8 and 6·0 %, respectively. Differences related to income, education and race/ethnicity were verified, except for prevalence of wasting by education level. Girls and boys presented 18·4 and 20·5 % of excess weight, 2·8 and 3·7 % of underweight and 5·5 and 7·3 % of stunting, respectively. Prevalence of excess weight was lower among poorer, lower-educated (only for boys) and white adolescents, while stunting was lower among higher-income, higher-educated and white adolescents. Over three-quarters of women and almost half of men presented excess weight. Among adults, 3·9 % of women and 1·7 % of men were underweight, and 5·7 % of women and 0·2 % of men presented short stature. Prevalence of excess weight for women was higher among lower education and black, while for men it was higher among higher income and education and white. Short stature was more prevalent among black and mixed-race, low-educated and low-income women. Underweight prevalence was higher among low-educated, black and mixed-race women.

Conclusions: In Brazil, the prevalence of excess weight was at least threefold higher than that of undernutrition for children and adolescents and at least sevenfold higher for adults. Social inequalities were observed in the distribution of malnutrition across the lifespan and by gender.

Keywords: Brazil; Education; Health status disparities; Malnutrition; Race/ethnicity; Socio-economic status.