Situation of obesity and diabetes mellitus in Argentina

Abstract

Overweight and obesity are frequent causes, on the rise, of malnutrition in Argentina. The National Survey of Risk Factors (ENFR) reflects that self-reported excess weight (the sum of Overweight and obesity increased continuously throughout the four editions of the survey: 49%, 53.4% , 57.9% and 61.6% (2005, 2009, 2013 and 2018, respectively). This remarkable growth at the expense of obesity increased by almost 75% between 2005 and 2018. The self-reported prevalence of excess weight was higher in males compared to females (68.5% vs. 55.0%). According to anthropometric measurements carried out during the 4th ENFR of 2018, the prevalence of excess weight was even higher than the self-reported (66.1% vs. 61.6%). Lower-income social groups showed higher rates of excess weight at the expense of a higher prevalence of obesity, which was 21% higher in the lowest income quintile compared to the highest.

Coinciding with the trend in the region of weight gain in the child and adolescent population, an increase of 10% in overweight is observed in the population under 5 years of age and 3.6% in obesity. The proportion of overweight and obesity in the population aged 5 to 17 years was 20.7% and 20.4%, respectively. Adolescents from a low socioeconomic level are 31% more likely to be overweight compared to adolescents from a higher socioeconomic level, and the population with an educational level "up to incomplete primary" is more obese.