Resumo Jovens correm riscos para transtornos alimentares. Este estudo verificou as relações entre imagem corporal (IC), estresse percebido, autoestima, comportamento alimentar e Índice de Massa Corporal (IMC) em 238 adolescentes e jovens (14-20 anos; 62,2% meninas), respondendo ao Eating Atittudes Test, Escala de Estresse Percebido, Silhouette Matching Task e Inventário de Autoestima, medindo-se peso e altura (IMC). Meninas apresentaram riscos para distúrbios alimentares, maior preocupação com IC, mais estresse e menor autoestima; meninos desejam ser mais musculosos. Pela análise de redes, comportamento alimentar e IMC não se associaram, divergindo de outros estudos. Houve relações positivas entre IC e IMC e, entre fator dieta e fator bulimia; foram negativas as relações entre autoestima e estresse, e entre IC e sexo. Foram identificadas relações que podem subsidiar intervenções preventivas e centradas em variáveis, como a preocupação em emagrecer, estresse e autoestima em meninas, e o desejo de aumentar a massa corporal nos meninos.

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Overweight in childhood and adolescence is a global problem, requiring guidelines for this population. This work is aimed at the elaboration of an instructional booklet, called "Talking about obesity," to help parents of overweight children/adolescents on how to deal with the characteristics of the child and playfully guide the children themselves, promoting treatment adherence. Its content was based on research results on children and adolescent obesity in the areas of Psychology and Nutrition. The first version was submitted to three judges, health professionals (two psychologists and one nutritionist), who individually answered a questionnaire to evaluate the comprehension of the language, content, and image of each page, obtaining good agreement indexes. The suggestions were included in the second version, which was 17 pages long, illustrated with colorful diagrams. It was organized into three topics: Introduction-related to nutrition guidelines; Part II-for caregivers, with guidance on how to deal with the child's characteristics; and Part III-for children/adolescents, with guidelines on how to handle their characteristics. The material can support future studies and be applied in pediatric health services.

Background High prevalence of cardiovascular diseases in the global adult population refers to the need for prevention. Tracking phenomenon studies have inferred that since childhood, risk and protection factors can be identified, thus supporting public health policies. Purpose To evaluate the prevalence of stress and the cardiovascular risk factor in Brazilian students. Methods A cross-sectional study was carried out in our city with 3,471 students, both sexes, from 7 to 13 years old, 51.7% of whom were non-Caucasian, aiming to analyze 31 variables: a) biological markers for cardiovascular risk (weight, height, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, heart rate, HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, total cholesterol, triglycerides, use of medications); b) health-related behavioural variables (ingestion of fruits, vegetables, meats, fish, dairy products, sweets, sugary drinks, fast food, snacks, lunch at home or at school, daily study hours, physical activity at school and out of school, means of transport to go to school, screen time); c) emotional variables (perceived stress at school and at home); d) socio-demographic data (sex, age, ethnicity). Data were collected in schools and tabulated; Network analysis considered 16 composite variables. Results A total of 17.5% of obesity and 16.2% of overweight verified at the studied population. Children and adolescents, under stress, are shown to have higher cholesterol levels, followed by increased use of medications or supplements, and increased physical activity, higher ratios for boys and non-white ethnicity individuals. Eating lunch provided by the school and being a female served as a protective factor for cardiovascular risk. Conclusion Considering the already known impact of stress on children's physical and psychological development and cardiovascular risk, it is urgent to establish public policies aimed at preventing these conditions, which have been severely perceived in very young, non-white and resident of a periphery of metropolises individuals.