Clustering of Excess Body Weight-Related Behaviors in a Sample of Brazilian Adolescents

Abstract

The aim of the study was to identify the existence of clusters in multiple lifestyle behaviors, including consumption of fruits/vegetables, sugary products/soft drinks, physical activity and sedentary behavior. The association between identified clusters and excess body weight in a sample of adolescents from Dourados, Brazil, was examined. This is a cross-sectional school-based study involving 578 participants aged 12–18 of both sexes. Anthropometric measurements were performed and a questionnaire was applied with structured questions to collect data. Excess body weight was identified through body mass index. Cluster analysis was performed to identify sex-specific clusters of multiple lifestyle behaviors. Analysis of covariance and logistic regression were used to analyze associations between clusters and excess body weight. Six clusters were identified in both sexes. Girls and boys in the cluster characterized by greater time spent in sedentary behavior were 53% (OR = 1.53 [1.06–2.26]) and 63% (OR = 1.63 [1.12–2.35]) more likely to present excess body weight compared to their peers in the reference cluster. In the case of adolescents in the cluster characterized by high consumption of sugary products/soft drinks, girls were 47% more likely to be overweight (OR = 1.47 [1.05–2.13]) and boys were 51% more likely (OR = 1.51 [1.05–2.16]). High consumption of fruits/vegetables, low consumption of sugary products/soft drinks and less sedentary behavior was considered the most effective combination for the maintenance of a healthy weight.

Nutritional status and high adherence to the Mediterranean diet in Colombian school children and teenagers during the COVID-19 pandemic according to sex

“…With regard to sedentary and nutritional habits and despite the fact that 74⋅4 % of the participants in our studies performed <3 h of physical activity per week, no statistically significant differences were found in the nutritional status of the patients. This is a finding that is consistent with the one reported by Smetanina et al in Lithuania ( 18 ) , but it is different from what was reported in Brazil ( 25 , 36 , 37 ) , Mexico ( 38 ) , Australia ( 39 ) , Egypt ( 40 ) , Nigeria ( 33 ) , Nepal ( 31 ) , Iran ( 41 ) and among others ( 23 , 42 ) . The relationship between the educational level of the parents and the nutritional status of the children continues to be contradictory, because some studies have reported higher frequencies of overweight or obesity in children whose parents have a higher educational level ( 25 , 31 , 35 , 43 ) , yet, other studies associate less education with higher rates of overweight/obesity ( 18 ) .…”

Clustering of Physical Activity, Diet and Sedentary Behavior among Youth from Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review

“…The studies were developed in 29 different countries, the majority were carried out in USA (n = 6), Brazil (n = 6), and Australia (n = 4), and five [6,11,34,35,50] provided data from more than one country. Regarding country income, 35 studies [11,[23][24][25][26][27]29,30,[32][33][34][35][36][37][38]40,[43][44][45][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61] were developed in high-income countries, followed by six [31,39,41,42,46,62] in upper middle-income countries, and one [6] involved data on countries with more than one income. The age group ranged from two [50,63] to nineteen…”

“…The age group ranged from two [50,63] to nineteen [13,42] years. Most studies exclusively investigated adolescents (n = 23) [23][24][25][26]28,31,32,34,35,37,[39][40][41][42][45][46][47][48]55,57,59,60,62], nine [6,29,30,33,38,43,49,51,54] both children and adolescents, and seven (n = 7) [11,44,50,52,53,58,61] only children. In three studies [27,36,56], the sample was composed of children/adolescents but did not report the age group.…”

“…Objective measures were identified on five [6,11,33,51,60] and two [51,60] studies to evaluate PA and SB, respectively. Questionnaires were the most prevalent instrument used to measure PA (n = 35) [5,11,15,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][52][53][54][55][56][57]59,61,62], diet (n = 33) [5,7,11,15,24,[26][27]…”

“…Questionnaires were the most prevalent instrument used to measure PA (n = 35) [5,11,15,24,[26][27][28][29][30][31][32][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][52][53][54][55][56][57]59,61,62], diet (n = 33) [5,7,11,15,24,[26][27][28][31][32][33][35][36][37][39]…”