Introduction: Obesity is a global epidemic affecting millions of people worldwide. Its diagnosis and treatment are crucial for the prevention of associated chronic diseases. Objectives: To assess the prevalence of obesity according to different diagnostic criteria, analyze the concordance between various diagnostic methods, and identify associated factors. Methods: Peru's Demographic and Family Health Survey (ENDES) from 2014 to 2022 was utilized. The cut-off points for defining obesity were ≥ 30 for body mass index (BMI), the ATPIII criteria for waist circumference (WC-ATPIII), and 0.56 for the waist-to-height ratio (WHtR). Concordance analyses were performed to compare diagnostic methods and regression analyses were conducted to identify associated factors. Results: The prevalence of obesity according to BMI, WC-ATPIII, and WHtR was 25.65%, 42.04%, and 46.49%, respectively. The concordance between the three criteria was evaluated through the Kappa index. The concordance between obesity by BMI and WC-ATPIII was 0.5141. The concordance between BMI and WHtR was 0.5099. Finally, the concordance between WC-ATPIII and WHtR was 0.7514. Men showed a lower prevalence of obesity compared to women. The obesity trend increased overall during the study period, with marked differences in prevalence according to the obesity measure used. Conclusions: The findings reveal differences in obesity prevalence according to the diagnostic method employed and underscore the need to consider multiple approaches to assess obesity. The results significantly affect public health and provide a foundation for future interventions and policies to combat obesity in Peru.

Background: Resistant starch, and specially retrograded starches (RS), have been suggested as useful biological molecules to improve the glucose management in diabetic conditions. However, the influence of the botanical origin in the RS biological capacities make necessary its evaluation, where RS from legumes have been paid less attention compared to other sources as cereals. Objectives: A RS product obtained from creole Faba beans (Vicia faba L. creole), was evaluated for the first time as a material capable of improving glucose homeostasis in diabetic conditions. Methods: The RS ingredient investigated (with a reduced digestibility of 50%) was tested in a Wistar rat model with induced diabetes, fed with a 15 or 30% replacement of RS ingredient in the diet. Diverse nutritional and biomarkers were analysed. Results: As a result of the reduced digestibility of the RS ingredient, diabetic animals fed with RS replacement (15% or 30%) showed attenuated postprandial hyperglycemia responses, reducing the hyperglycemic condition close to 29% compared to non-treated diabetic animals (24.56 ± 7.50 and 25.02 ± 3.54 vs. 34.65 ± 1.89 mmol/L, respectively). In addition, fasting serum glucose levels were significantly reduced (22%). Other biochemical parameters associated with glucose metabolism, such as glycosylated hemoglobin and AGEs levels, also improved. Furthermore, significant improvements in nutritional parameters (such as weight gain) and a lower insulin resistance index were determined. In contrast, no clear effects were observed in lipid metabolism and oxidative stress biomarkers in the treated group. Conclusions: The results of this research suggest that the retrograded starch from creole beans evaluated could be a potential functional food ingredient capable of enhancing glucose homeostasis in diabetic conditions.