RELATIONS BETWEEN EDUCATION, INCOME AND BODY MASS INDEX OF EMPLOYEES IN A UNIVERSITY IN RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL: THE PRO-SAUDE STUDY.

In Brazil, several studies have identified an inverse association between education and obesity among women, the same tendency as that observed in developed countries. Among Brazilian men, there is also a tendency to a direct association between obesity prevalence and income. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between education and income with body mass index (BMI). The authors studied 3963 public university employees, participants in Phase 1 of a longitudinal study. Obesity prevalence was about four times higher among adult women with a lower compared with those with a higher educational level. In a multiple regression analysis, it was observed that, among men, education and per capita family income were not associated with BMI.