Abstract
ABSTRACT Objective This study aimed to verify the association between rural characteristics and the nutritional status of adolescents from the rural area of Macaé, a municipality in Rio de Janeiro, Southeast Brazil. Methods This is a cross-sectional study based on secondary anthropometric data, collected at the Macaé Municipal Department of Education between 2013 and 2014. The database refers to the total number of adolescents in the only high school in the rural area of the city. Poisson logistic regression was performed, having excess weight (overweight or obesity- Body Mass Index-for-age equal to or greater than one Z-score) as the dependent variable, used dichotomously. The independent variables were sex, socioeconomic status and three “yes or no” variables that express rural characteristics. Results The adolescents (total=109) were between 14 and 18 years old (mean=16.6 years), 64.2% were girls, 52.3% had vegetable gardens or orchards in their household, 19.4% had animal breeding for consumption purposes and 17.6% had parents/guardians working in the agricultural sector. The prevalence of excess weight was 18.0% in boys and 20.0% in girls. Having a garden/orchard implied a significantly higher chance of having excess weight, both in the bivariate analysis and in the sex-adjusted model (Prevalence Ratio=2.95; Confidence Interval=1.17-7.44). Conclusions Based on a significant association at the municipal level, the results highlight nutritional differences between local and large-scale studies, as well as variations within the same rural area. These findings point out the need to evaluate rural aspects in more detail in studies on underlying determinants of nutritional status.
Highlights
Adolescence consists of a process of intense physiological and psychosocial changes, which, from a biomedical perspective, ends when the body growth and sexual maturation are completed [1]
Rural characteristics associated with excess weight among adolescents
This study examined the nutritional status of adolescents from the rural area of Macaé and found an important association between rural characteristics and excess weight
Summary
Adolescence consists of a process of intense physiological and psychosocial changes, which, from a biomedical perspective, ends when the body growth and sexual maturation are completed [1]. As it covers the age range from 10 to 19 years, adolescence includes important habit formation, especially food habits, which can influence nutritional status and health, in youth and in adulthood [2,3,4,5]. Adolescents in rural areas, compared to those from other settings, may express singular ways of thinking, feeling, and acting [8,9] It is quite common for teenagers in Brazil to migrate from rural areas to urban centers for educational and work opportunities [10]. This movement is often related to the appreciation of the urban lifestyle by rural youth, which can interfere with adolescents’ habits and be relevant to understanding their nutritional profile
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