Prevalence of obesity among the military from Brazilian Air Force and its implications for aerospatial medicine

Este estudo teve por objetivo revisar os principais aspectos da obesidade e suas implica????es na medicina aeroespacial. Foram pesquisados o banco de dados do Centro de Medicina Aeroespacial (CEMAL), referente ao ano de 2005, e da Comiss??o Desportiva da Aeron??utica (CDA), referente a 2008. ?? importante ressaltar que 53% das Organiza????es Militares (OM) enviaram os testes ?? CDA. Foi constatado que 45,5% dos indiv??duos avaliados no Teste de Avalia????o do Condicionamento F??sico (TACF) apresentaram excesso de peso (??ndice de Massa Corp??rea ??? IMC > 25). Dos militares aeronavegantes examinados no CEMAL, 8,1% eram obesos. Os resultados apresentados refor??am a import??ncia da realiza????o regular das medidas antropom??tricas nas inspe????es de sa??de e nos exames cl??nicos. Em conclus??o, foi sugerida a elabora????o de um programa de controle de peso, com vistas ?? promo????o de sa??de nos militares da FAB, caso sejam identificadas no TACF altera????es relevantes de IMC e de circunfer??ncia abdominal, bem como novos estudos com amostras maiores e plurianuais.This study aimed to review the main aspects of obesity and its implications for aerospatial medicine. The Aerospatial Medicine Center (CEMAL) databases from 2005 and the Air Force Commission on Sport (CDA) databases from 2008 were analyzed. It is important to emphasize that 53% of the Military Organizations (OM) sent the tests to CDA. It was found that 45.5% of the people evaluated in the Fitness Assessment (TACF) were overweight (Body Mass Index ??? BMI >25). Among the military airmen from CEMAL, 8.1% were found to be obese. The results reinforce the importance of assessing the anthropometrical measures in the context of health inspections and clinical examinations. Finally, it was suggested the creation of a program to control weight, to provide healthy habits among the military from FAB identified in the TACF as presenting significant changes in BMI and abdominal circumferences, as well as to carry out additional studies with larger and multiyear samples