Reaching 30 meant more years of study and greater participation in the job market for the generation born in 1993, in Pelotas, in the south of RS. On the other hand, this same group began to live with higher rates of obesity, common mental disorders and exposure to smoking.
The scenario is highlighted by new results from the 1993 Birth Cohort, research developed by the Postgraduate Program in Epidemiology at the Federal University of Pelotas (UFPel), which accompanies participants from the first days of life. In the most recent stage of the study, 3,333 people were interviewed at age 30.
According to the coordinator of the 1993 Cohort, Helen Gonçalves, the results reveal rapid changes in the population's living conditions and the consequences of these transformations on health.
"The data show a generation that reached the age of 30 with important achievements in education and work, but also with an increasing burden of health risk factors", he states.
Education and work on the rise
Between the ages of 22 and 30, the average number of years of study increased from 9.8 to 10.3. Women had higher educational indicators than men: almost half of them (48.4%) achieved 12 years or more of formal education, while among men this percentage was 38.1%.
The survey also identified growth in participation in the job market. The proportion of employed participants increased from 63% at age 22 to 75.7% at age 30.
Despite this, the research shows marked differences between men and women when analyzing who is outside the market. Among women who did not work, 41.4% said they had left their jobs to take care of their children full time. Among men, only 0.9% gave the same reason.
Among men without a job, the most cited factors were the lack of work opportunities (29%) and health problems or accidents (18.8%).
For the researchers, the data indicates that care tasks continue to fall disproportionately on women, which may limit their permanence in the job market.
Excess weight
The evolution of health indicators caught the attention of researchers. In less than a decade, the proportion of participants with obesity practically doubled, from 16.2% at age 22 to 32.9% at age 30.
When cases of overweight and obesity are considered together, the percentage reaches 66.5% of participants.
Obesity and overweight were not obtained by self-report. Participants underwent in-person assessments, measuring weight, height and waist circumference, as well as advanced body composition exams, such as dual energy absorptiometry (DXA) and air displacement plethysmography (BodPod), methods considered highly accurate.
Anxiety and depression affect more women
Mental health also deteriorated between the two assessments. The presence of common mental disorders increased from 22% to 38.2% between 22 and 30 years old.
Women registered the most worrying indicators. The prevalence of anxiety among them reached 28.7%, almost double that observed among men, which was 14.9%.
Depression rates were also higher among women. Among women, 9.2% reported the condition, while among men the percentage was 3.2%.
Mental health was investigated through standardized scales answered by the participants themselves and also through face-to-face interviews carried out by trained psychologists. Among the instruments used are questionnaires to screen for anxiety, depression and common mental disorders, in addition to the M.I.N.I. diagnostic interview, used to identify specific psychiatric disorders.
Cardiovascular risks
Comparison with other generations monitored by Pelotas birth cohorts points to changes in the health profile over time.
In the assessment carried out at age 22, 18.2% of participants in the 1993 Cohort had metabolic syndrome, a condition characterized by increased abdominal circumference associated with other risk factors, such as high blood pressure, changes in blood glucose or cholesterol and triglyceride levels.
The researchers assess that factors related to cardiometabolic diseases are emerging earlier and earlier in recent generations, in a context of changes in diet, physical activity and lifestyle habits.
"When an indicator moves like this over an entire generation, the most likely explanation should not be in each person's choices, but in the conditions in which the population lives, works and eats", explains Helen Gonçalves.
Smoking and lung health
The results also indicate an association between exposure to cigarettes and changes observed in respiratory health since youth.
The research identified that accumulated exposure to tobacco was already associated with reduced lung function at age 22, a relationship that was also observed in the assessment at age 30.
In the most recent assessment, 17.7% of participants declared themselves smokers. Furthermore, 12.8% reported using electronic cigarettes daily.
According to researcher Larissa Picanço, author of the study on the relationship between smoking and lung function, the damage caused by smoking can be noticed long before old age.
"One of the most important messages is that the effects of smoking can be identified very early. Exposure accumulates over time, and it is not necessary to reach old age for measurable changes in lung function to appear", he states.
About the study
The 1993 Birth Cohort follows residents born in Pelotas from the first year of life. The study originally recruited 5,249 participants and, in the evaluation carried out between 2023 and 2024, interviewed 3,333 people aged 30. Also considering the 242 deaths identified throughout the follow-up, the retention rate reached 68.1%.
The data are part of the 30-year evaluation of the 1993 Cohort, whose methodological profile was published in the scientific journal International Journal of Epidemiology.
