Reported December 14, 2007

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Women in Brazil are not as slim as their internationally famed models may suggest and up to one-third of men drink too much, a survey showed on Wednesday.

More than 44 percent of women are overweight in Rio de Janeiro, where scantily clad females parade during Carnival and on beaches, a national survey by the health ministry showed.

Women in Sao Paulo, the capital of a fashion industry that gave rise to big-name models like Giselle Bundchen, are also more heavy-set than elsewhere in Latin America's largest country. Almost 43 percent of women in Sao Paulo are overweight, the third-highest rate among 27 state capitals surveyed.

Brazilian health officials say that the rate still falls short of levels in the United States but that they are concerned. "It is higher than we would like," said Deborah Malta, one of the survey's coordinators.
 

Researchers blamed traditional eating habits as well as a lack of exercise. Many of Brazil's foods, such as the typical bean and meat stew called feijoada, are rich in fats. Average consumption of fruits and vegetables was "far below" the minimum daily recommendation of 400 grams (14 ounces), the survey said.

Brazilian men fare much worse in the poll. Between 45 percent and 52 percent of men in major cities are overweight and as many as one-third drink alcohol excessively, the study found.

The heaviest male drinkers are in the northeastern city of Salvador, where 33 percent consume more than five alcoholic beverages per day. In Rio de Janeiro, one in four men regularly drinks too much.

The survey, which had a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percent, polled more than 54,000 people by telephone from August to December of 2006.