Agregamento dos quatro principais comportamentos de risco às doenças não transmissíveis entre adolescentes

Abstract

Objective: To investigate the aggregation of four main risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol, physical inactivity and low consumption of fruits and vegetables) to chronic diseases in a population from Northeastern Brazil. Methods: Cross-sectional study with a representative sample (n = 600) of high school students from public schools in Caruaru, Pernambuco, Brazil. The aggregation was evaluated by comparing the observed prevalence with the expected prevalence in all the aggregation possibilities between the behaviors. The logistic regression analysis was performed by grouping three or four behaviors, after adjusting for independent variables. Results: With the exception of smoking, other risk behaviors had prevalence rates above 20%. Only 0.3% (95%CI 0.1 - 1.3) of the students presented the four risk behaviors simultaneously, while 15.3% (95%CI 12.3 - 18.2) did not present any of them. Risk behaviors tended to aggregate together, particularly smoking and alcohol consumption, being more pronounced among boys, with physical inactivity and low consumption of fruits and vegetables being higher among girls (p < 0.05). Regression analysis indicated that, among the independent variables, those students who do not have physical education classes were 2.1 times more likely to have three or more aggregated risk behaviors. Conclusions: The results of this study allow us to establish the prevalence of aggregated risk behaviors, which may have important implications for health policies and practices. It is suggested that educational and health actions are tested in schools, and physical education classes can be an important context for intervention.