Citation

Cureau FV, Duarte P, Santos DL, Reichert FF. J. Phys. Act. Health 2013; 11(5): 942-949.

Affiliation

Post Graduate Program in Physical Education, Federal University of Pelotas, Pelotas, Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Human Kinetics Publishers)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

23676377

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Few studies have investigated the prevalence and correlates of risk factors for non-communicable diseases among Brazilian adolescents. We evaluate the clustering of risk factors and their associations with sociodemographic variables. METHODS: Cross-sectional study carried out in 2011 comprising 1,132 students, aged 14-19 years, from Santa Maria, Brazil. The cluster index was created as the sum of the risk factors. For the correlates analysis, a multinomial logistic regression was used. Furthermore, the observed/expected ratio was calculated. RESULTS: Prevalence of individual risk factors studied was as follows: 85.8% unhealthy diets, 53.5% physical inactivity, 31.3% elevated blood pressure, 23.9% overweight, 22.3% excessive drinking alcohol and 8.6% smoking. Only 2.8% of the adolescents did not present any risk factor, while 21.7%, 40.9%, 23.1% and 11.5% presented one, two, three and four or more risk factors, respectively. The most prevalent combination was between unhealthy diets and physical inactivity (observed/expected ratio =1.32; 95%CI: 1.16-1.49). Clustering of risk factors was directly associated with age and inversely associated with socioeconomic status. CONCLUSIONS: Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable diseases is high in Brazilian adolescents. Preventive strategies are more likely to be successful if focusing on multiple risk factors, instead of a single one.

Language: en