Background/objective: Simultaneous engagement in risk behaviors for chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) might exert a synergistic effect on adolescent health. This study aimed to identify risk behavior patterns for NCDs in adolescents and analyze associated factors.
Methods: Cross-sectional study conducted between 2009 and 2011, with 1,716 participants aged 10-17 years of a cohort study in Central-West Region, Brazil. Demographic, economic, anthropometric, and lifestyle characteristics were collected. Risk behaviors evaluated were alcohol consumption, tobacco experimentation, insufficient physical activity, sedentary behavior, skipping breakfast, and low diet quality. Principal component analysis was used to identify patterns of risk behaviors and multiple linear regression analysis to quantify the association between independent variables and patterns of risk behavior.
Results: Three patterns of risk behaviors were identified: "legal drugs", "diet and screens", and "silent". After adjustment, legal drugs pattern showed direct association with age (β = 0.13; 95% CI = 0.09; 0.16) and inverse association with maternal education (β = -0.07; 95% CI = -0.14; -0.01). Diet and screens pattern were directly associated with female gender (β = 0.14; 95% CI = 0.04; 0.23), age (β = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.08; 0.14), and economic class (β = 0.15; 95% CI = 0.04; 0.25). Silent pattern was directly associated with maternal education (β = 0.09; 95% CI = 0.03; 0.15), being overweight (β = 0.17; 95% CI = 0.06; 0.28), and female gender (β = 0.32; 95% CI= 0.22; 0.41).
Conclusions: Three risk behavior patterns were identified and the associated factors were socioeconomic status, age, and female gender.