OBJECTIVETo analyze the prevalence of sedentary behavior and associated factors in
adolescents.METHODSA cross-sectional study with adolescents aged 10 to 17 years, of both sexes,
belonging to a 1994-1999 birth cohort in the city of Cuiabá, MT,
Central Western Brazil. Data were collected using a questionnaire containing
sociodemographic, economic, lifestyle and anthropometric variables.
Sedentary behavior was determined as using television and/or computer/video
games for a time greater than or equal to 4 hours/day. Associations with
sedentary behavior were evaluated using body mass index in childhood and
adolescence and sociodemographic and behavioral variables using hierarchical
logistic regression.RESULTSThe overall prevalence of sedentary behavior was 58.1%. Of the 1,716
adolescents evaluated, 50.7% (n = 870) were male. In multivariate analysis,
after adjustment for confounding factors, the variables that remained
associated with sedentary behavior were: age (14 and over) (OR = 3.51, 95%CI
2.19;5.60); higher socioeconomic class (OR = 3.83, 95%CI 2.10;7.01), higher
level of maternal education (OR = 1.81, 95%CI 1.09;3.01); living in the
country (OR = 0.49, 95%CI 0.30;0.81); insufficient physical activity (OR =
1.25, 95%CI 1.02;1.53); experimentation with alcoholic beverages (OR = 1.34,
95%CI 1.08;1.66) and being overweight in adolescence (OR = 1.33, 95%CI
1.06;1.68).CONCLUSIONSThe high proportion of adolescents in sedentary activities and the lack of
association with being overweight in childhood, indicates the need for
educational initiatives to reduce multiple risk behaviors. Encouraging
physical activity in young people as a way of reducing sedentary behavior
and, consequently, being overweight is fundamental.