@article{ref1,
title="Clustering of risk factors for non-communicable diseases in Brazilian adolescents: prevalence and correlates",
journal="Journal of physical activity and health",
year="2013",
author="Cureau, Felipe Vogt and Duarte, Paola and Santos, Daniela Lopes and Reichert, Felipe Fossati",
volume="11",
number="5",
pages="942-949",
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.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1543-3080",
doi="",
url="http://dx.doi.org/"
}