School survey with adolescents: design, operationalization, and participant profile

Abstract

This study aimed to describe the design, operationalization, and general characteristics of participants of a school-based survey entitled the ‘Adolescent Health’ study, conducted in 2023 with a representative sample of adolescents aged 10 to 15 years enrolled in public schools of a municipality with high human development in southern Brazil. The sample was randomly selected by double cluster (schools and classes). All students from the selected classes were invited to participate. Demographic data were extracted from school records; socioeconomic and food insecurity data were answered by parents or guardians. Anthropometric and body composition measurements, sexual maturation, dietary intake, physical activity, sedentary behavior, oral health indicators, and scales for alexithymia, binge eating disorder, and quality of life perception were collected from the adolescents. A total of 675 students participated in the study. The adherence rate was 43.32%, ranging from 37.13% to 47.27% depending on the school. There was a predominance of female sex, age group of 10 to 12 years, self-reported White race/ethnicity, fifth-grade students, and morning shift. Most families had up to five residents per household and a per capita income between half and one minimum wage. This is the first school-based survey to assess multiple indicators in a representative sample of adolescents from the municipal education system of a city in the interior of southern Brazil, providing subsidies for conducting future school-based surveys on adolescent health.