Risk behaviors in adolescents related health school of rural area

Health risk behaviors are often started in childhood and adolescence and represent a major risk to development non-communicable chronic diseases. The present study aimed to examine the prevalence of health risk behaviors in adolescent students in rural high schools in southern of Rio Grande do Sul. The sample consisted of all teenagers who had brought the parents or guardians permission to participate in the study and where attending school in the public schools of rural zone of Pelotas, covered by the 5th Regional Education Coordinator (CRE). The teenagers answered a questionnaire with demographic questions (gender, age, ethnicity), socioeconomic (schooling, economic level) and risk behaviors (smoking, alcohol consumption, physical inactivity, exposure to violence, sex without condom use and low fruit / vegetables intake). Study participants were 510 students between 13 and 19 years old enrolled in 10 rural schools. Risk behaviors with the highest prevalence in both sexes, were alcohol abuse (69.9%), physical inactivity (46.7%) and low consumption of fruit or vegetables (54.9%). Obese adolescents have mentioned engaging in fights, about four times more than those considered in the ideal weight. The conclusion was that the prevalence of health risk behaviors among rural adolescents was high. Although there are few data from studies in rural areas, those presented in this article are to structure health intervention programs.