Este artigo apresenta os principais resultados da Pesquisa Nacional de Saúde do Escolar (PeNSE). Aplicou-se questionário em uma amostra de conglomerados de 60.973 estudantes do 9º ano do ensino fundamental de escolas públicas e privadas das capitais dos estados brasileiros e do Distrito Federal, entre março e junho de 2009. Analisam-se prevalências e intervalos de confiança de 95% (IC95%) das situações de violência envolvendo adolescentes. Foram identificadas as seguintes situações: insegurança no trajeto casa-escola (6,4%; IC95%: 6,1%-6,8%) e na escola (5,5%; IC95%: 5,2%-5,8%); envolvimento em brigas com agressão física (12,9%; IC95%: 12,4%-13,4%), com arma branca (6,1%; IC95%: 5,7%-6,4%) ou arma de fogo (4,0%; IC95%: 3,7%-4,3%); agressão física por familiar (9,5%; IC95%: 9,1%-9,9%). As situações de violência foram mais prevalentes entre estudantes do sexo masculino. Houve grande variação segundo as cidades estudadas. Os adolescentes estão expostos a diferentes manifestações de violência nas instituições que supostamente deveriam garantir sua proteção e desenvolvimento saudável e seguro - a escola e o lar. Esses resultados visam apoiar medidas de promoção à saúde e prevenção desses fatores de risco.

The National Adolescent School-based Health Survey (PeNSE) is a survey conducted with students from public and private schools, performed in a partnership between the Ministry of Health and the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, with support of the Ministry of Education. PeNSE is part of the Brazilian Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases. Three editions were held, with triennial periodicity (2009, 2012 and 2015), which included samples composed of 9th grade students. In 2015, a sample of 13 to 17 years old students was added, making PeNSE comparable to international surveys. Throughout the three editions, the sample has increased, in size and scope, and the questionnaire has changed. In addition to the risk and protective factors for chronic diseases, the survey covers other topics, such as sexual behavior and violence. PeNSE provides essential information to support public policies aimed at Brazilian adolescents.

Results reinforce the association between social disadvantages and experimenting and regular smoking. In addition, the use of other tobacco products is worthy of attention and may lead to regular smoking.

Brazil is among the countries with the highest prevalence of asthma in the world, and the prevalence is still growing.

In the Brazilian capitals, the vast majority of prevalence of risk factors were kept stable in the two editions of the National Survey of School. These data generate evidence to guide the implementation of public policies to minimize the exposure of adolescents to risk factors.

OBJECTIVE Evaluate the school environments to which ninth-year students are exposed in Brazil and in the five regions of the country according to health promotion guidelines.METHODS Cross-sectional study from 2012, with a representative sample of Brazil and its macroregions. We interviewed ninth-year schoolchildren and managers of public and private schools. We proposed a score of health promotion in the school environment (EPSAE) and estimated the distribution of school members according to this score. Crude and adjusted odds ratios (OR) were used, by ordinal regression, to determine the schoolchildren and schools with higher scores, according to the independent variables.RESULTS A student is more likely to attend a school with a higher EPSAE in the South (OR = 2.80; 95%CI 2.67–2.93) if the school is private (OR = 4.52; 95%CI 4.25–4.81) and located in a state capital, as well as if the student is 15 years of age or older, has a paid job, or has parents with higher education.CONCLUSIONS The inequalities among the country’s regions and schools are significant, demonstrating the need for resources and actions that promote greater equity.

BackgroundEconomic development is often evoked as a driving force that has the capacity to improve the social and health conditions of remote areas. However, development projects produce uneven impacts on local communities, according to their different positions within society. This study examines the spatial distribution of three major health threats in the Brazilian Amazon region that may undergo changes through highway construction. Homicide mortality, AIDS incidence and malaria prevalence rates were calculated for 70 municipalities located within the areas of influence of the Cuiabá-Santarém highway (BR-163), i.e. in the western part of the state of Pará state and the northern part of Mato Grosso.ResultsThe municipalities were characterized using social and economic indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), urban and indigenous populations, and recent migration. The municipalities' connections to the region's main transportation routes (BR-163 and Trans-Amazonian highways, along with the Amazon and Tapajós rivers) were identified by tagging the municipalities that have boundaries crossing these routes, using GIS overlay operations. Multiple regression was used to identify the major driving forces and constraints relating to the distribution of health threats. The main explanatory variables for higher malaria prevalence were: proximity to the Trans-Amazonian highway, high proportion of indigenous population and low proportion of migrants. High homicide rates were associated with high proportions of migrants, while connection to the Amazon River played a protective role. AIDS incidence was higher in municipalities with recent increases in GDP and high proportions of urban population.ConclusionsHighways induce social and environmental changes and play different roles in spreading and maintaining diseases and health threats. The most remote areas are still protected against violence but are vulnerable to malaria. Rapid economic and demographic growth increases the risk of AIDS transmission and violence. Highways connect secluded localities and may threaten local populations. This region has been undergoing rapid localized development booms, thus creating outposts of rapid and temporary migration, which may introduce health risks to remote areas.

There are still many gaps in our understanding of sanitation and its role, especially in large urban centers that are dependent on water and sewerage systems and often lack alternative water sources. Ecological studies based on secondary data and specific surveys have been shown to be a good option for analyses correlating sanitation and health.