[Nutritional status, nutritional self-perception, and use of licit drugs in adolescents]

OVERWEIGHT IN ADOLESCENTS: FOOD INSECURITY AND MULTIFACTORIALITY IN SEMIARID REGIONS OF PERNAMBUCO

Objective:

To investigate context of overweight adolescents from the semiarid and rural areas of Pernambuco, considering the multifactorial nature of the determinants of being overweight, and the food and nutritional insecurity conditions of the region.

Methods:

A population based cross-sectional study was conducted from September to October 2015. The nutritional status of adolescents was assessed by body mass index (BMI) and classified by the BMI/Age indicator, according to sex. To analyze the factors associated with being overweight, the variables were grouped into: socioeconomic, demographic, environmental, lifestyle, psychological, biological and food and nutritional security. Poisson regression was used to verify the association between being overweight and independent variables.

Results:

The prevalence of excessive weight found was 20.1%, namely: 13.4% overweight and 6.7% obese. After adjusting for the confounding variables, the variables: occupancy situation (rented house), alcohol consumption, food security and light food insecurity, body perception (overweight and obese) and age range (10 to 14 years), were associated with being overweight. High food and nutritional insecurity was identified in 80.4% of the population. The moderate and severe forms were more frequent, and precarious social conditions were still prevalent in the region.

Conclusions:

The prevalence of being overweight was high, exceeding the expected for a population with better living conditions. The determinants of being overweight were: alcohol consumption, occupancy situation, self-perceived weight, age and food security/mild food insecurity.

Prevalence and factors associated with excess weight in adolescents in a low-income neighborhood - Northeast, Brazil

Abstract Objectives: to study the prevalence of excess weight and associated factors among adolescents from a low-income neighborhood located in the city of Recife, Pernambuco. Methods: cross-sectional study, in which behavioral, socioeconomic and demographic information was collected from June to December 2014. Excess weight was calculated based on body mass index for age and the cut-off points, by the World Health Organization (2007). To analyze associations between predictor variables and the outcome, multivariate data analysis was performed following the Poisson Regression (Prevalence Ratio - PR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Results: twenty-five adolescents participated in the study, with a prevalence of 36.4% of excess weight: 20.4% overweight (95%CI=15.1-25.7) and 16.0% obesity (95%CI= 11.2-20.8), predominantly in female gender (42.5%; p=0.031). The outcome was associated with internet access (PR=1.20; 95%CI=1.01-1.43), the number of people in the family (PR= 1.12; 95%CI=1.01-1.28) and screen time (PR=1.13; 95%CI=1.01-1.27), but only in male gender. Conclusions: the prevalence found was higher than that of other national researches, especially for the female gender. In the male gender, not having internet access, a lesser number of family members and a longer screen time proved to be factors associated with being excess weight.

Fatores associados ao tabagismo entre adolescentes do sexo feminino

RESUMO O objetivo foi conhecer os fatores associados ao tabagismo entre adolescentes do sexo feminino. Pesquisa descritiva, qualitativa, em duas escolas de Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil. Participaram do estudo 75 adolescentes do sexo feminino. A análise de conteúdo foi utilizada com o suporte do software de apoio à análise qualitativa. O uso de tabaco foi associado ao controle do peso corporal, socialização no ambiente escolar, redução da ansiedade e estresse e pouca percepção de risco para a saúde. Ações de prevenção ao uso de tabaco no ambiente escolar devem ser planejadas considerando gênero, faixa etária, linguagem e modos de vida.