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This study aimed to analyze the aggregation of alcohol consumption, smoking, excess weight, and short sleep in Brazilian adolescents. This was a cross-sectional multicenter study conducted with teens participating in the Study of Cardiovascular Risk Factors in Adolescents (ERICA in Portuguese). The sample consisted of adolescents that answered the complete questionnaires on sleep, tobacco, and alcoholic beverages, in addition to having their weight and height measured. Aggregation was analyzed by comparing the observed and expected prevalence of risk factors in all possible groupings, with the respective 95% confidence intervals. Analyses were performed in Stata 14 using the svy (survey) command for complex sample data. The sample included 73,624 adolescents, of whom 25.5% had excess weight and 24.2% consumed alcoholic beverages. Aggregation of the four risk factors was O/E = 5.6. Aggregation of three factors was more prevalent in those 15 to 17 years of age (P = 4.8). In the POR (prevalence odds ratio) analysis of the combination of two risk factors, those that smoked showed 11.80 higher odds of also consuming alcohol, compared to those that did not smoke, and vice versa, in private schools. In relation to age, adolescents 12 to 14 years of age that smoked showed 15.46 times higher odds of also drinking, and vice and versa. Adolescents in the sample presented the aggregate presence of four risk factors, and there was a significant relationship between tobacco and alcohol consumption.

The study's objectives: compare self-report measures of weight and height with direct measures; assess the impact of these discrepancies on body mass index (BMI) and prevalence of overweight and obesity; and apply correction models to the self-report measures and assess the degree of improvement in the corrected measures produced with the use of these models. A cross-sectional study was performed, assessing 4,151 adults (18 to 60 years) participating in the São Paulo Megacity Epidemiological Study. Linear regression models stratified by sex were proposed for correction of self-reported measures. Agreement was assessed with the intraclass correlation coefficient for the direct measures, self-report measures, and corrected measures, and kappa coefficient for BMI classification categories. Self-reported weight and the resulting BMI were underestimated, while height was overestimated, compared to direct measures. With all the correction models, the corrected measures were closer to the direct measures. Prevalence rates for excess weight, calculated by self-report measures, were underestimated by 24% in men and by 28% in women; with corrections, the underestimation decreased to 8% and 10%, respectively. The results showed moderate agreement for self-report measures and substantial agreement for corrected measures compared to direct measures. The use of correction equations for self-report data proved to be a useful method for producing more trustworthy estimates of prevalence of overweight and obesity in the general population, usually estimated from self-report measures of weight and height in population surveys.

This article sought to evaluate the effect of exposure, and exposure time, to breastfeeding on the occurrence of common mental disorders (CMD) among Brazilian adolescents enrolled in school. This study analyzed data from the Study of Cardiovascular Risk in Adolescents (ERICA), evaluating those whose questionnaire regarding breastfeeding had been filled out by parents or guardians. The presence of CMD was identified using the General Health Questionnaire, version 12 items (GHQ-12), and we considered two cutoff points (scores ≥ 3 and ≥ 5). We tested the associations in bivariate analyses and through multiple logistical regression models, adjusting for potential confounding variables. Of the 41,723 adolescents we evaluated, most were students of the female sex (54.6%), aged between 12 and 15 years (71%), attended public schools (83.1%), resided in the Southeastern region (51.9%) and belonged to the economic classes B (53.8%) and C (34.1%). Around half of the adolescents' mothers had not completed their secondary education (51.7%). The group of adolescents who were breastfed for more than six months (51.8%) had a lower CMD prevalence for both GHQ-12 cutoff points, when compared with the group who were not breastfed or who were breastfed for ≤ 1 month (IR = 0.82; 95%CI: 0.69-0.97 and IR = 0.74; 95%CI: 0.59-0.91 for 3 and 5 points, respectively). Prolonged breastfeeding seems to play a protective role on the occurrence of CMD in adolescence.