OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence and factors associated with overweight and obesity among public high school students of Caruaru, Northeast Brazil. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, with a representative sample. The study evaluated anthropometric (weight and height), socio-demographic and economic variables (gender, age, marital status, place of residence, family income and school grade) and those related with lifestyle (physical activity, sedentary behavior, dietary intake, stress levels, smoking, alcohol consumption and quality of sleep). Binary logistic regression was conducted, considering overweight and obesity as the main outcomes, being significant p<0.05. RESULTS: The final sample consisted of 600 students (62.5% females), with a mean age of 17.5±1.6 years. The prevalence of overweight and obesity was 19.0% (95%CI 15.9-22.4) and 5.5% (95%CI 3.8-7.7), respectively, without differences between genders. The proportion of overweight was higher among those who reported a negative perception of stress, those with insufficient physical activities, and the individuals who reported alcohol consumption. There was a higher proportion of obesity among the students with a negative perception of sleep, those with insufficient physical activities, and those who reported watching TV more than three hours per day and having candies four times or more per week. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed a high prevalence of overweight and obesity associated with modifiable risk factors such as physical inactivity, alcohol consumption, negative perception of sleep, time in front of TV greater than three hours per day and consumption of candies four times or more per week.
overweight; obesity; adolescent health; risk factors; prevalence; adolescent nutrition
