Prevalence Of Obesity Among Elderly Participants Of A Health Education Service

BACKGROUND: the detection of obesity is shown relevant considering that with aging there is progressive loss of lean body mass and increased the proportion of body fat, and also metabolic changes and reduced physical activities that require increased energy and weight loss, contributing to obesity installation, which in turn exert implications on health and social life of the elderly. Before with these consequences of obesity and its impact on the health of the elderly, the study aimed to identify the prevalence of obesity among elderly participants of a university extension project.\udMETHOD: Exploratory and descriptive study with a quantitative approach. The sample is constituted by 96 elderly people of both sexes registered in the project.\udRESULT: It appears that the 37 elderly people (38.54%) had some degree of obesity. Obesity classification prevailed 57.63% of non-obese overweight status, while among the obese, 67.57% is in obesity I.\udCONCLUSION: It is believed that knowing this reality helps medical and nursing actions in promotion of strategies of healthy lifestyles and encouragement, making interaction for personal responsibility in training for self-care and improved quality of life