[Lifestyle of adolescent students from public and private schools in Recife: ERICA]

Is household composition associated with the presence of risk behaviors in Brazilian adolescents?

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the association of household composition with risk behaviors in Brazilian adolescents.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study, with a nationally representative sample of Brazilian adolescents (n=159,245) aged 13 to 17, enrolled and regularly attending the 7th to 9th year of elementary school and the 1st to 3rd year of high school, participants in the National Survey of School Health in 2019. The risk behaviors were: insufficient physical activity, sedentary behavior, alcohol consumption, smoking, poorer diet quality, skipping breakfast and not having meals with parents/guardians. In the analyses, the sampling weights and study design were considered, stratified by the type of school (public or private) and estimated using Poisson regression models.

RESULTS

Adolescents, from public and private schools, who lived in single-parent households or where parents were absent, had a higher prevalence of alcohol consumption, smoking, poorer diet quality, skipping breakfast and not eating meals with parents/guardians, compared to those who lived with both parents. Additionally, adolescents from public schools showed a higher prevalence of sedentary behavior than those from single-parent households. Adolescents from private schools had a higher prevalence of sedentary behavior among those who lived only with their mother and a higher prevalence of insufficient physical activity among those who lived without either parent.

CONCLUSION

Brazilian adolescents, from public and private schools, who lived in single-parent households or without parents, showed higher prevalence of risk behaviors.

[Screen time, quality of the adolescent diet, and profile of the school environment]

Adolescents from 30 state schools in Curitiba, State of Paraná, reported total screen time, namely television, video games and laptops. Diet quality was assessed by the frequency of food consumption. The income of the school environment was taken from the Census. The built environment for physical activity was investigated by systematic observation of the school surroundings. Multilevel Poisson Regression was used to estimate associations with the exposure variables. Among 1,200 adolescents, 50.9% being male, and 74.4% were found to be exposed to excessive screen time. Excessive TV screen time (56.5%) was associated with poor diet quality. Excessive video game time (22.0%) was lower among females (PR 0.25; 95%CI 0.18;0.36), associated with poor diet quality, lower school environment income, and the worst classification of the built environment for physical activity. Excessive use of portable screens (53.2%) tended to increase with the income of the school environment. Excessive use of TV and laptops was widespread among adolescents, with different demographic and contextual variables associated according to the type of device used.

Adolescents who practice physical activity have adequate food choices, regardless of the level of somatic maturation and adiposity

OBJECTIVES

Regular physical activity and adequate food are part of a healthy lifestyle for the maintenance of physical and metabolic health. To verify the moderating role of physical activity (PA) in the relationship between dietary patterns and body adiposity in adolescents, according to somatic maturation.

METHODS

Study with cross-sectional design, sample of 336 adolescents of both sexes, aged between 11 and 17 years. Body mass, height, and waist circumference (WC) were evaluated. Body mass index (BMI), BMI z-score (BMI-z), waist-to-height ratio (WHtR), and somatic maturation by peak height velocity (PHV) were calculated. The level of PA was measured by the International Physical Activity Questionnaire and dietary pattern by the Food Frequency Questionnaire ELSA - Brazil (short version). Moderation analyzes were tested using multiple linear regression models, by PROCESS macro for SPSS.

RESULTS

An inverse interaction of PA was observed in the relationship between food consumption factor 5 (ultra-processed foods category) and WC in boys categorized as pre-pubertal and pubertal PHV (β=-5.344; CI95 % -10.108 -0.580; p=0.028). For girls, no interaction was observed in any of the models analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

It was observed that the level of PA can influence food choices in prepubertal and pubertal boys, since the active boys showed better dietary pattern and lower central adiposity. Therefore, the findings reinforce the need to encourage the regular practice of physical activities from an early age, mainly aimed at preventing obesity in children and adolescents.

Behavioral risk factors for noncommunicable diseases associated with depression and suicide risk in adolescence

Noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) and mental disorders cooccur in adulthood, which is why their determinants and common risk factors should be addressed at an early age. Therefore, we estimated the association of the major risk factors for NCDs with depression and suicide risk by structural equation modeling considering pathways triggered by social vulnerability or mediated by obesity. This population-based study included 2,515 Brazilian adolescents. The following exposures were the major risk factors for NCDs: substance use behaviors (variable deduced from alcohol, tobacco, and drug use), physical inactivity, and components of unhealthy eating markers (added sugar and saturated fat). Obesity was assessed using the fat mass index. The outcomes were depression and suicide risk. Depression was associated with substance use behaviors (SC = 0.304; p < 0.001), added sugar (SC = 0.094; p = 0.005), and females (SC = 0.310; p < 0.001). Suicide risk was also associated with substance use behaviors (SC = 0.356; p < 0.001), added sugar (SC = 0.100; p = 0.012), and females (SC = 0.207; p < 0.001). In adolescents, these associations may help explain the cluster of NCDs and mental disorders in adulthood.