A Quasi-Cohort Trend Analysis of Adult Overweight in Colombia

Paula Andrea Castro Prieto , Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics
Jeroen Spijker, Centre d'Estudis Demogràfics (CED)
Joaquín Recaño Valverde, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona

Background: According to the National Survey of the Nutritional Situation in Colombia the prevalence of overweight in adults in Colombia has been increasing in recent years, from 46% in 2005 to 56.5% in 2015. Methods: to develop a descriptive quasi-cohort analysis in order to capture BMI trends from different segments of the population in different time periods in Colombia. Results: Between 2005 and 2015 the proportion of the population that is overweight, an increase of 4.8% (34.1% to 38.9%) was observed. In men, the increase was 5.9% (34% to 39.9%) and in women 4% (34.1% to 38.1%). In the obesity category, the proportion of the population increased by 5.9% (15.4% to 21.3%), in men the figure increased by 5.2% (10.5% to 15.7%) and in women the increase was 7.3% (18.4% to 25.7%). At the ethnic level, the proportion of Afro-Colombians with obesity increased by 6.6% (19.4% to 26%), being higher in women than in men in 2010 (13.9% vs. 5.5%) and in 2015 (18.1% vs. 7.9%). In indigenous people, the proportion of obesity increased by 5.3% (13.5% to 18.8%), being higher in females than in males in 2010 (9.6% vs. 3.9%) and in 2015 (13.2% vs. 5.6%). Preliminary conclusions: The results of the research suggested that Colombia has gone through a nutritional transition in which overweight has increased between 2005 and 2015. This increase was concentrated at ages over 35 years, i.e. since the quasi-cohorts of 1960-1964, period in which the country went through a period of violence and displacement.

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 Presented in Session P1. Postercafe