Prevalence and factors associated with excess body weight in adolescents

Abstract

Objective: Analyze the prevalence of excess body weight in adolescents and associated factors. Methods: Cross-sectional study involving 635 adolescents, male and female, between 10 and 16 years of age, in state-owned public schools. A multidisciplinary team collected the data in the second semester of 2016. Data on demographics, family history, pubertal development and behavioral habits were collected. The adolescents were classifi ed by their nutritional status. Bivariate analysis and Poisson hierarchical multiple regression were applied, which revealed the association and the prevalence ratio between excess body weight and the other variables. Results: The prevalence of excess weight was 32.8% of the adolescents, associated with a family history of dyslipidemia (p=0.003; PR=1.474; 95%CI=1.139-1.907) and alcohol consumption (p=0.044; PR=1.430; 95%CI= 1.009-2.028). The remaining variables in this research were not associated with excess body weight. Conclusion: High prevalence rates of excess body weight were found among the adolescents, associated with a family history of dyslipidemia and alcohol consumption.