Lifestyle habits and Anthropometric Measures of Adolescents in a Brazilian Public School

Objective: To analyze the dietary profile and habits of adolescents enrolled in a Brazilian public school and to verify the association between these data and their anthropometric and blood pressure measurements. Method: This is a cross-sectional, observational and analytical study. Sample was composed by 156 adolescents aged between 12 and 16 years. Participants were asked about their sociodemographic characteristics, their diet history, life habits, past personal and family pathological history, their association to their parents and their mental health. As well their anthropometric data (weight, height, waist circumference and blood pressure). Data was tabulated and analyzed using the SPSS program version 22.0 (SPSS, Statistical Package for Social Science). Results: The obesity and overweight prevalence in the adolescents was 37.8%. Of the 59 adolescents who were overweight, 47.4% also had an altered blood pressure and 96.3% had an altered waist circumference/height ratio. Almost half (76) of the adolescents spend more than 4 hours per day in front of screens. Of these 27 adolescents sleep past midnight and 14 adolescents sleep less than 6 hours a night. The majority of adolescents overweight or obese (59.3%) don't open up about their problems and fears to their parents (59.3%) (data not shown). Conclusion: The population studied has high rates of overweight and obesity, associated to an increased adiposity risk and altered blood pressure. Clinical assessment aimed at screening for comorbidities associated to obesity, including hypertension and diabetes mellitus.