Resumo

PADILLA- VARGAS, Gioconda; ROSELLO- ARAYA, Marlene; GUZMAN PADILLA, Sonia  e  ARAUZ HERNANDEZ, Ana Gladis. Percepción de la obesidad en adultos costarricenses. Acta méd. costarric [online]. 2006, vol.48, n.3, pp.129-130. ISSN 0001-6002.

Obesity is a health problem that effects individuals of any given age group, and it has been identified as risk factor, common to many chronic diseases. The lastest nutrition poll carried in Costa Rica shows that the prevalence of obesity in women 20 to 44 years old was 45.9%, 11.3% higher than in 1982 and in the group of 45 to 59 years, the prevalence was 75%1. According to the findings of the Damas/Desamparados poll overweight in women 19 to 44 years was 56.4%, and in men 19 to 59 years was 58.8%, the Carmen poll regarding risk factors found that 59.4% of the adult population (20-64 years) had overweight or obesity.

Palavras-chave : Overweight perception; obenty; Costa Rica.