Association between Socioeconomic Factors, Food Insecurity, and Dietary Patterns of Adolescents: A Latent Class Analysis.

Socioeconomic factors and food insecurity play a fundamental role in the food choices of adolescents, and in addition to influencing access to food, they also have significant effects on dietary patterns. The objectives of this study were to identify the dietary patterns of adolescents through the application of latent class analysis and to evaluate their association with socioeconomic variables and food insecurity. This cross-sectional study was conducted with adolescents aged between 11 and 17 years from public schools. Latent class analysis was used to identify the dietary patterns. Associations between socioeconomic factors, food insecurity and dietary patterns were assessed using multinomial logistic regression (odds ratio (OR); 95% confidence interval (CI)). Among the 1215 participants in the study, four dietary patterns were identified: "Mixed", "Low consumption", "Prudent" and "Diverse". A "Diverse" dietary pattern was associated with a lower economic stratum (OR:2.02; CI:1.26-3.24). There was no association between food insecurity and identified dietary patterns. These results highlight the importance of promoting healthy eating in this age group at all socioeconomic levels, especially the lowest level.

The association between intimate partner domestic violence and the food security status of poor families in Brazil.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between physical intimate partner violence and household food security within households with schoolchildren. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. SETTING: Salvador, Bahia, north-eastern Brazil. SUBJECTS: The study was conducted in 1019 households with students. Violence between couples was evaluated using the Portuguese version of the revised Conflict Tactics Scales (CTS2), previously adapted and validated for use in Brazil. The Brazilian Food Insecurity Scale (BFIS) was used to identify food insecurity. We also obtained socio-economic information for each participant. We used multivariate Poisson regression to assess the associations of interest. RESULTS: According to the results of the BFIS, 62·5% of the households were found to experience food insecurity, including 19·5% moderate food insecurity and 6·5% severe food insecurity. The prevalence of minor physical violence was 9·6% (95% CI 7·8, 11·4%) and of severe physical violence was 4·7% (95% CI 3·4, 6·0%) among the couples. In the final multivariate model, it was found that couples reporting minor (prevalence ratio=1·23; 95% CI 1·12, 1·35) and severe (prevalence ratio=1·16; 95% CI 1·00, 1·34) physical violence were more likely to be experiencing household food insecurity, compared with those not reporting physical violence. CONCLUSIONS: Physical intimate partner violence was associated with food insecurity of households. The present study brings new data to the subject of the role of violence in the context of food insecurity.

Serologic screening of celiac disease in adolescents.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to identify the seroprevalence of celiac disease in adolescents from public schools in the city of Salvador, Bahia. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study with probabilistic sample of 1,213 adolescents, aged 11 to 17 years old, of both genders. The body mass index was used to determine the participants' nutritional status based on the percentiles for age and gender recommended by the World Health Organization. Measurement of the anti-human transglutaminase immunoglobulin A (anti-tTG-IgA) antibody was established as the specific screening test for celiac disease, which involved an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Descriptive analysis was performed using proportions and means (standard deviation). RESULTS: The female gender prevailed in the sample, and most of the participants had normal weights. The anti-tTG-IgA antibody was positive in 6/1,213 (0.49%) adolescents. CONCLUSION: The seroprevalence of celiac disease was 0.49% in the investigated adolescents. Further studies are necessary to establish the prevalence of celiac disease in this age range.