Obesidade e sobrepeso: motivos das mulheres não aderirem à prática de atividade física na Atenção Primária à Saúde

Abstract

Obesity and overweight are growing problems in global Public Health, posing a threat, by increasing the risks of chronic noncommunicable diseases. They cause an important impact on the quality of life and the self-esteem of individuals. Physical activity is a strategy that brings positive results in people's health. Objective: to analyze the reasons that lead to obese and overweight women not taking part in the “Amigos da Saúde” (Friends of Health) walking group, an initiative of a Primary Health Care unit; to analyze the sociodemographic profile of obese and overweight adult women; and to identify the prevalence of obesity and overweight in adult women; and to analyze the reasons that lead to obese and overweight women not adhering to the walking group. Method: this is a research with a quantitative-qualitative approach, conducted in two stages. The quantitative stage used a descriptive cross-sectional approach, with a sample of 221 adult women who were invited to answer a sociodemographic and economic questionnaire (age, self-reported race, family income, schooling, marital status, and occupation); questions on comorbidities (arterial hypertension and diabetes) and on the practice of physical activities, in addition to performing an anthropometric evaluation. The chi-square test was used to compare proportions, with a significance level of at least 5%. The data were entered in an Excel program and analyzed by the SPSS 14.0 software. For the qualitative stage, overweight women who did not practice in physical activities were invited to answer the semi-structured interview. The interviews were submitted to content analysis, such as thematic analysis. Scenario: the research was conducted in a Family Health Strategy unit, in the city of Juiz de Fora, Brazil. Results: the majority of the women who answered the questionnaire were single (48.4%), with low monthly family income (45.2%), low educational level (34.8%), non-white (69.6%), denied hypertension (70.8%) and diabetes (94.7%), and did no physical activities (74.5%). The prevalence of overweight found (28.1%) is below Brazilian data (34.9%), but obesity (48.4%) is well above national data (18.9%). The significance analysis of the relationship between excess weight and some independent variables was positive for age under 40 years (p = 0.031), for the presence of hypertension (p = 0.002) and for unmarried women (p <0.001). Among the main reasons for not participating in the "Friends of Health" group, three categories of responses emerged: 1. Reasons for not doing physical exercise by overweight women; 2. Non-adherence of overweight women to the "Friends of Health" walking group and 3. Motivation for overweight women to practice physical activity. Conclusion: Women's main reasons for not participating in the "Friends of Health" were the lack of time and the time scheduled for the activity, demonstrating what changes will be necessary. This research may contribute to improve guidelines and encourage the promotion of a healthier lifestyle for obese women.