Testemunho de violência entre parceiros íntimos e sua relação com o excesso de peso em adolescentes

Abstract

The main objective of this Dissertation was to evaluate the relationship between witnessing intimate partner violence and overweight in adolescents. The information used for this research originated from a household survey conducted in the district of Campos Elíseos, located in the municipality of Duque de Caxias, between April and November 2010. The study population was selected by conglomerate sampling in three stages (census sector, household, individual) with inverse sampling techniques to select households. The sample for the present study included 239 adolescents, 106 males and 133 females. The adolescents' witness of intimate partner violence was measured using a scale previously validated to measure intimate partner violence, the Revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2) applied through an interview with the female reference of the household. The nutritional status of adolescents was analyzed using the body mass index for age (BMI-for-age), which is calculated considering anthropometric measurements (weight and height) taken by a team of trained researchers. The classification was made through specific BMI cut-points by age and sex, in z-score, following what is recommended by the World Health Organization. Most of the adolescents in this study were female (55.6%) and under 15 years of age (52.9%). Most of the adolescents were from Class C families, 65.3%. Regarding self-reported race/skin color, 54% of the adolescents declared themselves as brown. About the adolescents' nutritional status, 64% were in the eutrophic state at the time of the interview. Regarding the other nutritional statuses, 20.9% of the adolescents were overweight, and 15.1% were obese. The study verified a prevalence of psychological and physical violence among intimate partners 12 months prior to the interview of 75.8% and 34.7%, respectively. It was observed through multinomial multiple logistic regression analysis that male adolescents' testimony to psychological IPV acts as a protective factor for overweight (OR=0.70; 95%CI=0.56-0.88; p=0.003) and obesity (OR=0.73; 95%CI=0.54-0.99; p=0.048), even after adjustment. In contrast, the testimony of psychological IPV in female adolescents and physical IPV in both sexes did not show significant results regarding adolescent nutritional status. It is of utmost importance that other studies be developed, with larger samples and from different contexts, that take into consideration other variables that use other types of study design, such as longitudinal, to elucidate this relationship better, mainly because few studies deal with the testimony of intimate partner violence and how this testimony influences the nutrition and diet of adolescents.