[Socio-demographic and lifestyle factors associated with abdominal fat distribution in adults: a population-based survey in Southern Brazil].

This article describes the anthropometric distribution of abdominal fat in the urban adult population in Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil, and the influence of independent variables on this distribution. In a cross-sectional population-based study, 3,464 adults from 20 to 69 years of age were selected in a multistage systematic sampling. They were interviewed and had their largest abdominal circumference measured. Means were compared using one-way ANOVA, while multiple linear regression models were employed to adjust for confounding. According to the study, older white married men with higher family incomes were more likely to have the highest mean abdominal circumferences (p < 0.001). Women at greatest risk for abdominal fat were older married mothers with a history of 4 or more pregnancies and less schooling (p < 0.001). Former smokers had the highest mean abdominal circumferences in both males and females, while other lifestyle factors such as alcohol consumption and physical activity showed no association with the outcome after adjusting for confounding.