To reduce the spread of COVID-19, the World Health Organization and the majority of governments have recommended that the entire human population should 'stay-at-home'. A significant proportion of the population live alone or are vulnerable to mental health problems yet, in the vast majority of cases, individuals in social isolation have no access to mental healthcare. The only resource is people themselves using self-help, self-medication and self-care. During prolonged COVID-19 isolation, an in-built system of homeostasis can help rebalance activity, thought and feeling. Increased physical activity enables a reset of physical and mental well-being. During periods of lockdown, it is recommended that exercise should be as vigorously promoted as social distancing itself.

BackgroundThere is a lack of evidence regarding clusters of health-related behaviors among adolescents from low, lower-middle, and upper-middle income countries. This study aimed to identify clustering patterns of health-related behaviors (diet, physical activity [PA] and sedentary behavior [SB]) and association with sociodemographic variables among a population-based sample of Brazilian adolescents.MethodsCross-sectional data from the 2015 National School-Based Health Survey (PeNSE). A total of 102,072 (females: 51.7%) students in ninth-grade (age: 14.3 ± 1.1 years-old) enrolled in public and private schools were investigated in this study. Healthy and unhealthy diet, PA and SB were measured using a validated questionnaire. Two-step cluster analysis was conducted to identify lifestyle patterns. The methodology for complex analysis and weighting was used to inferential statistical procedures. Multinomial logistic regression assessed associations between sociodemographic factors and the clusters.ResultsThree reliable and meaningful clusters were identified and labelled as follows: (1) health-promoting SB and diet (32.6%); (2) health-promoting PA and diet (44.9%), and (3) health-risk (22.5%). Compared to boys, girls were less likely to be in clusters 1 (OR = 0.85; 95% CI = 0.78–0.93, p < 0.001) and 2 (OR = 0.43; 95% CI = 0.40–0.46, p < 0.001) than the health-risk cluster. Higher socioeconomic status was positively associated with health-promoting PA and diet, and negatively related to health-promoting SB and diet. Older adolescents were more likely to be in cluster 1 than in cluster 3, compared to younger adolescents.ConclusionApproximately one-quarter of the population (health-risk cluster) reported engaging in multiple risk behaviors. Interventions may need to be tailored to specific adolescent groups, especially considering sociodemographic differences.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-018-6203-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

A prática de atividade física traz consigo inúmeros benefícios. Além da saúde e qualidade de vida (CDC, 2006) ela acarreta efeitos positivos para a saúde mental e emocional e auxilia na formação do auto-conceito em adolescentes (STEIN et al., 2007).

HighlightsThe co-occurrence of obesogenic behaviors is associated to body image indicators.Risk behaviors combined may set the adolescent at risk for psychological health.Adolescents in healthy clusters perceive themselves as having normal weight.Girls engaging in healthy clusters are less likely to use pills to control weight.

Promoting healthy lifestyle factors (e.g., physical activity, healthy eating, less screen time) among young people is a relevant and challenging step toward reducing non-communicable diseases. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of a multicomponent intervention on lifestyle factors among adolescents from schools in low Human Development Index (HDI < 0.500) areas. The Fortaleça sua Saúde program was conducted with 548 adolescents aged 11–18 years old in the intervention group and 537 in the control group. The four-month intervention included strategies focused on training teachers, new opportunities for physical activity in the school environment, and health education strategies for the school community (including parents). Moderate- to-vigorous physical activity level (≥420 min/week), TV watching and computer use/gaming (<2 h/day), daily consumption of fruit juice, fruit, vegetables, soft drinks, savory foods and sweets, and current alcohol and tobacco use were measured before and after intervention. McNemar’s test and logistic regression (odds ratio [OR] and a 95% confidence interval [95% CI]) were used, considering p < 0.05. In the intervention schools, a significant increase occurred in the number of adolescents who met physical activity guidelines (5.3%; 95% CI = 0.8; 9.8) and who reported using computer for <2 h a day (8.6%; 95% CI = 3.8; 13.4) after intervention. No changes were observed in the control schools. At the end of the intervention, adolescents from intervention schools were more likely to practice physical activity at recommended levels (OR = 1.44; 95% CI = 1.00; 2.08) than adolescents from control schools. No significant change was observed for the other lifestyle factors. In conclusion, this multicomponent intervention was effective in promoting physical activity among adolescents from vulnerable areas. However, other lifestyle factors showed no significant change after intervention. This study is registered at Clinicaltrials.gov NCT02439827.