Clinical-behavioral factors associated with overweight in young adults students

Abstract

Objective: to identify clinical-behavioral factors associated with overweight in young adult students. Methods: a cross-sectional study was conducted with 560 young adults from 26 schools in a state capital in northeast Brazil. After obtaining the data by applying specific questionnaires, multiple logistic regression was used to identify the factors associated with overweight. Results: overweight affected more than a third of the young adult students and, in bivariate analysis, showed statistically significant associations with the variables: weight in childhood, weight in adolescence, family history of overweight, use of obesogenic drugs and exposure to alcohol. The variables retained in the final regression model were: weight in adolescence, family history of overweight and alcohol exposure. Conclusion: frequency of overweight was high, and a history of weight gain in adolescence, family history of overweight and exposure to alcohol explained the problem in question, confirming the relationship of overweight with genetic and behavioral factors.