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

Rev Bras Epidemiol. 2024 Dec 13:27:e240058. doi: 10.1590/1980-549720240058. eCollection 2024.
[Article in English, Portuguese]

Abstract

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.

Objetivo:: Analisar a associação da composição domiciliar com comportamentos de risco em adolescentes.

Métodos:: Estudo transversal, com amostra nacionalmente representativa de adolescentes brasileiros (n=159.245) de 13 a 17 anos, matriculados e frequentando regularmente do sétimo ao nono anos do ensino fundamental e da primeira à terceira séries do ensino médio, participantes da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar em 2019. Os comportamentos de risco foram prática insuficiente de atividade física, comportamento sedentário, consumo de bebida alcoólica, tabagismo, pior qualidade da dieta, omissão do café da manhã e não realização de refeições com pais/responsáveis. Nas análises, que foram estratificadas pelo tipo de escola (pública ou privada) e estimadas por modelos de regressão de Poisson, foram considerados os pesos amostrais e o desenho do estudo.

Resultados:: Adolescentes de escolas públicas e privadas, que moravam em domicílios monoparentais ou sem nenhum dos pais, apresentaram maior prevalência de consumo de bebida alcóolica, tabagismo, pior qualidade da dieta, omissão do café da manhã e não realização de refeições com pais/responsáveis comparados àqueles que moravam com ambos os pais. Adicionalmente, entre adolescentes de escolas públicas, aqueles que viviam em domicílios monoparentais apresentaram maior prevalência de comportamento sedentário. Dos adolescentes de escolas privadas, apresentaram maior prevalência de comportamento sedentário aqueles que moravam apenas com a mãe e maior prevalência de prática insuficiente de atividade física os que moravam sem nenhum dos pais.

Conclusão:: Adolescentes brasileiros, de escolas públicas e privadas, que residiam em domicílios monoparentais ou sem os pais, apresentaram maiores prevalências de comportamentos de risco.

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adolescent Behavior* / psychology
  • Alcohol Drinking / epidemiology
  • Brazil / epidemiology
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Exercise
  • Family Characteristics*
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Risk-Taking*
  • Schools / statistics & numerical data
  • Sedentary Behavior*
  • Smoking / epidemiology
  • Socioeconomic Factors

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES), Brazil, through a doctoral scholarship (M.R.S.; Financial Code 001). However, CAPES had no role in the conception, analysis or writing of this manuscript, and the authors had no conflicts of interest to report