Aggregation of behavioral risk factors to noncommunicable chronic diseases: A national school-based study with Brazilian adolescents

There is an increasing interest in the study of the aggregation of risk factors for noncommunicable chronic diseases. However, there are no studies among adolescents stratified by alcohol use. This study investigated the aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors in adolescents considering the use or not of alcohol. A total of 73,624 Brazilian adolescents aged 12-17 years from public and private schools were evaluated in a national cross-sectional study (March-2013 to December-2014). The aggregation of cardiovascular risk factors was the main outcome. The regression model was adjusted for sex, age, region of Brazil, and school type. Most alcohol users were 16 to 17 years old, while nonusers were between 12 and 13 years. Alcohol users showed a higher prevalence of smoking (8.1% vs. 0.8%) and sleep inadequacy (59.9% vs. 51.4%) than nonusers did. On the other hand, a sufficient level of physical activity was more frequent among alcohol users (51.2% vs. 44.2%). The presence of only one cardiovascular risk factor was more frequent in nonusers (42.3%) than alcohol users (38.9%). Alcohol users tended to aggregate more for the category of 3-4 cardiovascular risk factors when compared with the non-alcohol-using population (10.9% vs. 7.9%). Aggregation of three cardiovascular risk factors was more likely to be observed among male adolescent alcohol users. Inadequate sleep and smoking habit tended to aggregate among alcohol users. This finding highlights the importance of public policies aiming to reduce alcohol consumption at early ages and, consequently, to decrease the risk of future morbimortality of noncommunicable chronic diseases.