Rising rural body-mass index is the main driver of the global obesity epidemic in adults

Body-mass index (BMI) has increased steadily in most countries in parallel with a rise in the proportion of the population who live in cities. This has led to a widely reported view that urbanization is one of the most important drivers of the global rise in obesity. Here we use 2,009 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight in more than 112 million adults, to report national, regional and global trends in mean BMI segregated by place of residence (a rural or urban area) from 1985 to 2017. We show that, contrary to the dominant paradigm, more than 55% of the global rise in mean BMI from 1985 to 2017—and more than 80% in some low- and middle-income regions—was due to increases in BMI in rural areas. This large contribution stems from the fact that, with the exception of women in sub-Saharan Africa, BMI is increasing at the same rate or faster in rural areas than in cities in low- and middle-income regions. These trends have in turn resulted in a closing—and in some countries reversal—of the gap in BMI between urban and rural areas in low- and middle-income countries, especially for women. In high-income and industrialized countries, we noted a persistently higher rural BMI, especially for women. There is an urgent need for an integrated approach to rural nutrition that enhances financial and physical access to healthy foods, to avoid replacing the rural undernutrition disadvantage in poor countries with a more general malnutrition disadvantage that entails excessive consumption of low-quality calories

Revisão sistemática da produção acadêmica brasileira sobre causas externas e violências contra a pessoa idosa Systematic review of the Brazilian academic production about external causes and violence against the elderly

Apresenta-se revisão sistemática sobre violência contra a pessoa idosa no período de 2000 a 2009. A base de dados para a pesquisa é o acervo de artigos, livros, capítulos de livros, manuais e planos de ação da Biblioteca Virtual em Violência e Saúde. Foram categorizados e analisados 115 documentos segundo os subtemas: quedas; causas externas e violência em geral; estudos epidemiológicos e socioepidemiológicos; prevenção da violência; violência e acidentes no contexto familiar; revisão conceitual e metodológica; ordem legal e denúncias; violência sob o olhar de quem a vivencia; serviços de saúde, profissionais e cuidadores; e construção e revalidação de instrumentos de pesquisa. Os resultados mostram relevante aumento da produção e aprimoramento metodológico nas áreas de saúde pública, serviço social, direito, fisioterapia, enfermagem, psicologia, otorrinolaringologia e na formulação de políticas e planos de ação. No entanto, há temas pouco aprofundados como acidentes de trânsito, homicídios, suicídios, afogamentos e sufocações.<br>This article presents a review about violence against the elderly, covering the period of 2000 to 2009. The database used in this research was the collection of articles, books, book chapters, manuals and plans of action of the Virtual Library on Violence and Health. We analyzed 115 documents divided into the following categories: falls; external causes and violence in general; epidemiological and socio-epidemiological studies; prevention of violence; violence and accidents in the family; conceptual and methodological review; legal order and denunciation; violence from the elderly's point of view; health services, professionals and caretakers; and construction and validation of research instruments. The results show a relevant increase in production and methodological improvement in public health, social work, law, physiotherapy, nursing, psychology and otorhinolaryngology. However, there are issues that have not been sufficiently approached such as traffic accidents, homicides, suicides, drowning and suffocation