Health-related risk behaviors and overweight in students from Toledo, Paraná, Brazil

This study verified the proportion of adolescents exposed to health-related risk behaviors (HRRB) and excess of body weight (EBW) as well as their associations to age group and gender in adolescents from a Brazilian municipal district. A sample of 669 students aged between 10 and 15 years were evaluated. The adapted questionnaire of Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) was used to obtain information related to HRRB and EBW. Descriptive statistics, qui-square and binary regression were applied. High proportions of HRRB and EBW were identified. Boys aged between 13 and 15 years had 75% more chance of spending excessive time in sedentary activities and 93% more chance of consuming alcoholic beverage when compared with boys aged 10 and 12 years. Older girls had 2.20 times more chance of consuming sweets in excess and 2.57 times more chance of consuming alcoholic beverage than younger girls. Main results showed that being a teenager between the ages of 13 to 15 represented a risk factor for sedentary time, excessive consumption of sweets and alcohol