Has the pandemic exacerbated sedentary behavior in children? Factors associated with high screen time in schoolchildren during COVID- 19 Erica Costa Rodrigues, Laudicéia Ferreira Fróis, Natália de Freitas Tavares, Priscila Pena Camargo, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Adriana Lúcia Meireles BMC Public Health, 2025 BACKGROUND: Our objective was to describe changes in screen time behavior among students before and during the suspension of in-person classes in public schools due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as to identify factors associated with screen time during the pandemic. METHODS: Cross-sectional study, conducted by telephone survey with 591 student/guardian pairs, from two municipalities in Minas Gerais, Brazil, between June and July 2020. Demographic and socioeconomic data were collected, and screen time, measured in hours and converted to minutes. Wilcoxon test for paired samples compared screen time median before and after the pandemic's onset. Linear regression models with hierarchical input were used to estimate the associations between screen time and sociodemographic and pandemic-related variables, adjusted for sex and age. RESULTS: Student daily median screen time increased by 150%, from 120 min before to 300 min after the pandemic (p < 0.001). Male students were associated with an average increase of 11 min in screen time [95% CI: 7.59; 14.40]. Students from urban areas had 65.05 more minutes [95% CI: 60.91; 69.18] of screen time compared to those from rural areas. Family income and receipt of emergency aid significantly influenced screen time, with increases of 20 min [95% CI: 14.47; 26.56] and 28 min [95% CI: 24.81; 32.07], respectively. The screen time of guardians also proved to be a strong predictor, with an additional increase of 54 min [95% CI: 50.14; 58.07]. CONCLUSION: These findings reinforce the influence of sociodemographic and behavioral factors on the increase in students' screen time during the pandemic, highlighting the importance of variables such as household income, home environment, and guardians' behavior in young people's digital exposure.
Validity and reliability of the Perceived Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS-P) for use in Brazil Bruna Aparecida Avelar, Adriano Akira Ferreira Hino, Anabele Pires Santos, Larissa Loures Mendes, Júlia Cristina Cardoso Carraro, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes Public Health Nutrition, 2024 Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of the Perceived Nutrition Environment Measures Survey (NEMS-P) translated and adapted for use in Brazil. Design: Validation of the NEMS-P questionnaire. The questionnaires were applied to assess validity and reliability, based on exploratory factor analysis, Cronbach’s α coefficient and intra-class correlation, with a significance level of 95 %. Setting: Brazil. Participants: Adults over 20 years of age diagnosed with hypertension were included in the internal validity and reliability test (n 176) and intra-rater reliability (subsample n 35). Results: Factor analysis obtained satisfactory results. Internal consistency was acceptable for most items, with Cronbach’s α ranging from 0·6 to 0·9. The intra-rater reliability of the subsample was also valid, with intra-class correlation coefficient values ranging from 0·5 to 0·9. Conclusion: This work reveals the usefulness of the instrument to assess the perceived food environment in the Brazilian context, being able to measure what is proposed according to its theoretical model, and reproduces the values when applied to a sample different from its original validation. However, refinement of some questions is suggested. Finally, it demonstrates the possibility of using the entire instrument or each section independently, according to the food environments to be investigated.
Co-occurrence of obesogenic behaviors and their implications for mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic: a study with university students Bruna Carolina Rafael Barbosa, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Elaine Leandro Machado, Adriana Lúcia Meireles BMC Public Health, 2024 Background The university years are a critical period for young adults, as they are more exposed to obesogenic behaviors and experience stressful situations that compromise their mental health. This study aims to estimate the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms and evaluate the association between the combined occurrence of obesogenic behaviors among university students. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted on students from a public university in Brazil during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data were collected from July to August 2020 using an online questionnaire. The outcome variables (anxiety and depression symptoms) were assessed using the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21). The co-occurrence of obesogenic behaviors was measured based on irregular consumption of fruits and vegetables, frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods, physical inactivity during leisure time, and sedentary behavior. A Venn diagram was used for the exploratory analysis. To verify the association between the outcome and explanatory variables, a directed acyclic graph model was constructed, and multivariate logistic regression was performed to calculate odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (95%CIs). Results A total of 1,353 students aged 18–24 years participated in this study. Symptoms of anxiety and depression were present in 46.1% and 54.6% of the participants, respectively. The most prevalent combination of obesogenic behaviors was frequent consumption of ultra-processed foods, physical inactivity during leisure time, and sedentary behavior (17.2%). The greater the number of simultaneous obesogenic behaviors, the higher the chance to present symptoms of anxiety [OR: 2.81 (95%CI: 1.77–4.46)] and depression [OR: 3.46 (95%CI: 2.20–5.43)]. Conclusion These findings reinforce the need to take actions to promote mental health in the university environment in conjunction with programs to promote a healthy lifestyle and improve the physical and mental well-being of students.
Perceptions of the neighbourhood food environment and food insecurity of families with children during the Covid-19 pandemic Irene Carolina Sousa Justiniano, Matheus Santos Cordeiro, Hillary Nascimento Coletro, Adriana Lúcia Meireles, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes BMC Public Health, 2024 BACKGROUND: Changes to the food environment during the Covid-19 pandemic significantly influenced food acquisition and consumption, contributing to a higher prevalence of food insecurity. We assessed the perception of the food environment and its association with food insecurity in households of Brazilian schoolchildren during the Covid-19 pandemic. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional telephone survey between March and May 2021 with adults (n = 475) responsible for purchasing and/or preparing food at the students' homes aged between 6 months and 17 years enrolled in public school from two Brazilian municipalities. We assessed outcomes using the Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (EBIA). We measured perceptions of the food environment by evaluating the perceived availability, price, and quality of fruits and vegetables (FV) and ultra-processed foods (UPF) sold in the neighbourhood. RESULTS: The results indicate that 55.1% of respondents experienced mild food insecurity, and 14.5% experienced moderate or severe food insecurity. The perception of the ease of purchase (8.5% vs. 64.2%) and variety (78.9% vs. 57.9%) of UPF was higher at all levels of food security and insecurity compared to the same questions on FV. The level of food insecurity was associated with the perceived price of FV (p < 0.05). A negative perception of the quality (OR:1.92; CI:1.04-3.56) and the price of FV (OR:3.56; CI:1.41-8.98) were associated with moderate/severe food insecurity. CONCLUSIONS: The affordability of FV is important for food-insecure households. Social protection policies for vulnerable families are crucial interventions that can strengthen and promote healthier food environments with greater availability of fresh foods such as fruits and vegetables.
Unhealthy and unsustainable diet and syndemic: the role of ultra-processed foods Bruna Aparecida Avelar, Ana Cláudia Morito Neves, Júlia Cristina Cardoso Carraro, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes, Mayckel da Silva Barreto, Raquel de Deus Mendonça Revista Chilena De Nutricion, 2024 ResumenLa sindemia global es un tema que est ganando notoriedad en el mundo.La sindemia se entiende como la interaccin entre la obesidad, la desnutricin y el cambio climtico, es decir, sinergia de epidemias y situaciones complejas, que coexisten en tiempo y lugar y sus consecuencias para la salud.Sin embargo, poco se sabe sobre la relacin entre la sindemia global y el consumo de alimentos ultraprocesados (AUP).En este contexto, el presente ensayo tiene como objetivo reflexionar acerca de la relacin que se establece entre la sindemia global y el consumo de AUP.Empezando por la obesidad, se sabe que el consumo excesivo de AUP es una de las principales causas de esta enfermedad crnica no transmisible.Sin embargo, tambin existe una relacin directa entre desnutricin y el consumo de AUP, ya que las personas que se encuentran en situacin de inseguridad alimentaria eligen alimentos econmicamente accesibles,
The Interaction between Education and Sex with Alcohol Consumption during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Analysis of Two Brazilian Cities Amanda Popolino Diniz, Raquel de Deus Mendonça, George Luiz Lins Machado-Coelho, Adriana Lúcia Meireles International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2024 This cross-sectional study, carried out between October and December 2020 in two Brazilian cities, aimed to evaluate the joint association of education and sex with habitual and episodic excessive alcohol consumption during the COVID-19 pandemic. Habitual alcohol consumption was defined as drinking any quantity of alcohol at least once per week. Excessive episodic alcohol consumption was defined as the consumption of five or more drinks by men or four or more drinks by women at least once in the last 30 days. Adjusted multivariate logistic regression models were used to analyze associations of education and sex with alcohol consumption. Education was not associated with habitual alcohol consumption and excessive episodic alcohol consumption. However, when evaluating the joint effect between education and sex, it can be seen that men with low education were more likely to habitually consume (OR: 5.85; CI95:2.74–14.84) and abuse alcohol (OR: 4.45; IC95:1.54–12.82) and women with high education were more likely to have habitual (OR: 2.16; IC95:1.18–3.95) and abusive alcohol consumption (OR: 2.00; IC95:1.16–3.43). These findings highlight the modifying effect of sex on the relationship between education and alcohol consumption, such that education influenced alcohol consumption differently between sexes during the pandemic.
Ultra-processed food intake and food allergy in children and adolescents Elaine Cristina de Almeida Kotchetkoff, Fabiola Isabel Suano-Souza, Daniela Neri Gama de Almeida, Talita Lemos Neves Barreto, Raquel Bicudo Mendonça, Roseli Oselka Saccardo Sarni International Journal of Food Sciences and Nutrition, 2024
COVID-Inconfidentes-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in two Brazilian urban areas in the fourth quarter 2020: study protocol and initial results Adriana Lúcia Meireles, Luciano Garcia Lourenção, Luiz Antônio Alves de Menezes-Júnior, Hillary Nascimento Coletro, Irene Carolina Sousa Justiniano, Samara Silva de Moura, Amanda Popolino Diniz, Thaís Da Silva Sabião, Ana Maria Sampaio Rocha, Aline Priscila Batista, Nara Nunes Lage, Bárbara Dos Santos Simões, Carolina Ali Santos, Raquel De Deus Mendonça, Amanda Cristina De Souza Andrade, Keila Furbino Barbosa, Cássio Zumerle Masioli, Júlia Cristina Cardoso Carraro, Mariana Carvalho de Menezes, Renata Cristina Rezende Macedo Nascimento, Leonardo Roever, Waleska Teixeira Caiaffa, George Luiz Lins Machado Coelho Poblacion Y Salud En Mesoamerica, 2023
Dietary inflammatory index and all-cause mortality in large cohorts: The SUN and PREDIMED studies Ana Garcia-Arellano, Miguel A. Martínez-González, Raul Ramallal, Jordi Salas-Salvadó, James R. Hébert, Dolores Corella, Nitin Shivappa, Luis Forga, Helmut Schröder, Carlos Muñoz-Bravo, Ramón Estruch, Miquel Fiol, José Lapetra, Lluís Serra-Majem, Emilio Ros, Javier Rekondo, Estefanía Toledo, Cristina Razquin, Miguel Ruiz-Canela, A. Alonso, M.T. Barrio Lopez, F.J. Basterra-Gortari, S. Benito Corchon, M. Bes-Rastrollo, J.J. Beunza, S. Carlos, S. Cervantes, J. de Irala, P.A. de la Rosa, C. de la Fuente, C.L. Donat-Vargas, M. Donazar, A. Fernandez Montero, A. Gea, E. Goni-Ochandorena, F. Guillen-Grima, F. Lahortiga, J. Llorca, C. Lopez del Burgo, A. Mari-Sanchıs, A. Marti, R. Mendonça, J.M. Nuñez-Cordoba, A.M. Pimenta, A. Rico, A. Ruiz Zambrana, C. Sayon-Orea, J. Toledo-Atucha, Z. Vazquez Ruiz, I. Zazpe Garcıa, A. Sánchez- Tainta, P. Buil-Cosiales, J. Díez-Espino, B. Sanjulian, J.A. Martínez, A. Marti, M. Serrano-Martínez, F.J. Basterra-Gortari, J.V. Extremera-Urabayen, L. Garcia-Pérez, C. Arroyo-Azpa, A.F. Barcena, C. Oreja-Arrayago, M.J. Lasanta-Sáez, P. Cia-Lecumberri, T. Elcarte-Lopez, F. Artal-Moneva, J.M. Esparza-López, E. Figuerido-Garmendia, J.A. Tabar-Sarrias, L. Fernández- Urzainqui, M.J. Ariz-Arnedo, J.A. Cabeza-Beunza, P. Pascual-Pascual, M.D. Martínez-Mazo, E. Arina-Vergara, T. Macua-Martínez, P. Pascual Pascual, M.L. Garcés Ducar, R. Martí Massó, R. Villanueva Moreno, A. Parra-Osés, M. Serra-Mir, A. Pérez-Heras, C. Viñas, R. Casas, A. Medina-Remon, P. Villanueva, J.M. Baena, M. García, M. Oller, J. Amat, I. Duaso, Y. García, C. Iglesias, C. Simón, L. Quinzavos, L. Parra, M. Liroz, J. Benavent, J. Clos, I. Pla, M. Amorós, M.T. Bonet, M.T. Martín, M.S. Sánchez, J. Altirriba, E. Manzano, A. Altés, M. Cofán, C. Valls-Pedret, A. Sala-Vila, M. Doménech, M. Bulló, J. Basora-Gallisa, R. González, C. Molina, G. Mena, P. Martínez, N. Ibarrola, J. Sorlí, J. García Roselló, F. Martin, N. Tort, A. Isach, N. Babio, A. Salas-Huetos, N. Becerra-Tomás, N. Rosique- Esteban, P. Hernandez, S. Canudas, C. Papandreou, C. Ferreira, M. Cabre, G. Mestres, F. Paris, M. Llauradó, R. Pedret, J. Basells, J. Vizcaino, R. Segarra, S. Giardina, M. Guasch-Ferré, A. Díaz-López, J. Fernández-Ballart, R. Balanza, S. Tello, J. Vila, R. de la Torre, D. Muñoz-Aguayo, R. Elosua, J. Marrugat, H. Schröder, N. Molina, E. Maestre, A. Rovira, O. Castañer, M. Farré, J. Sorli, P. Carrasco, C. Ortega-Azorín, E.M. Asensio, R. Osma, R. Barragán, F. Francés, M. Guillén, J.I. González, C. Sáiz, O. Portolés, F.J. Giménez, O. Coltell, R. Fernández-Carrión, P. Guillem-Sáiz, I. González-Monje, L. Quiles, V. Pascual, C. Riera, M.A. Pages, D. Godoy, A. Carratalá-Calvo, S. Sánchez-Navarro, C. Valero-Barceló, I. Salaverria, T. del Hierro, J. Algorta, S. Francisco, A. Alonso, J. San Vicente, A. Casi, E. Sanz, I. Felipe, J. Rekondo, A. Loma-Osorio, J. Fernandez-Crehuet, A. Garcia-Rodriguez, J. Wärnberg, R. Benitez Pont, M. Bianchi Alba, R. Navajas, R. Gómez-Huelgas, J. Martínez-González, V. Velasco García, J. de Diego Salas, A. Baca Osorio, J. Gil Zarzosa, J.J. Sánchez Luque, E. Vargas López, D. Romaguera, M. García-Valdueza, A. Proenza, R. Prieto, G. Frontera, S. Munuera, M. Vivó, F. Bestard, J.A. Munar, L. Coll, F. Fiol, M. Ginard, A. Jover, J. García, J.M. Santos-Lozano, M. Ortega-Calvo, M. Leal, E. Martínez, L. Mellado, L. Miró-Moriano, C. Domínguez-Espinaco, S. Vaquero- Diaz, P. Iglesias, P. Román, Y. Corchado, J.M. Lozano-Rodríguez, R. Lamuela-Raventós, M.C. López- Sabater, A.I. Castellote-Bargalló, P. Quifer-Rada, A. Tresserra-Rimbau, J. Alvarez-Pérez, E. Díez Benítez, I. Bautista Castaño, I. Maldonado Díaz, A. Sanchez-Villegas, M.J. Férnandez- Rodríguez, F. Sarmiendo de la Fe, C. Simón García, I. Falcón Sanabria, B. Macías Gutiérrez, A.J. Santana Santana, E. de la Cruz, A. Galera, X. Pintó-Salas, F. Trias, I. Sarasa, M.A. Rodríguez, X. Corbella, E. Corbella, A. Goday, M.A. Muñoz, C. Cabezas, E. Vinyoles, M.A. Rovira, L. Garcia, P. Baby, A. Ramos, L. Mengual, P. Roura, M.C. Yuste, A. Guarner, A. Rovira, M.I. Santamaria, M. Mata, C. de Juan, A. Brau, M. Fernandez, E. Gutierrez, C. Murillo, J. Garcia, M. Tafalla, I. Bobe, A. Díaz, M. Araque, E. Solis, T. Cervello, I. Montull, J.A. Tur, M.P. Portillo, G. Sáez Clinical Nutrition, 2019
Reply to la Schrader Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Adriano Marçal Pimenta, Alfredo Gea, Carmen de la Fuente-Arrillaga, Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, Aline Cristine Souza Lopes, Maira Bes-Rastrollo American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017
Reply to JM Cullin and CI Fernández Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Adriano Marçal Pimenta, Alfredo Gea, Carmen de la Fuente-Arrillaga, Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, Aline Cristine Souza Lopes, Maira Bes-Rastrollo American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017
Reply to T Bhurosy et al. Raquel de Deus Mendonça, Adriano Marçal Pimenta, Alfredo Gea, Carmen de la Fuente-Arrillaga, Miguel Angel Martinez-Gonzalez, Aline Cristine Souza Lopes, Maira Bes-Rastrollo American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017