Problemas emocionais e comportamentais: um estudo de base escolar no sul do Brasil

Abstract

Studies have shown that mental health problems affects of 10% to 20% of the children and adolescents in the world. The most common mental health problems in childhood are behavior disorders, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and emotional. It is believed that the assessment of mental health in childhood should be held considering a wide range of factors involved. To know and contextualize this stage of development, it is relevant to the investigation of child mental health and nutrition. The objective of this study is to investigate the association between the presence of mental health problems and nutritional status of school children from the city of Pelotas, Brazil. This is a cross-sectional study with a systematic random sample of school-based, assessing children of 8 years of age, enrolled in 20 selected schools in the urban area of public system, and their parents or primary caregivers. Emotional and behavioral problems will be tracked by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ), answered by a parent or primary caregiver. Nutritional status will be accessed by the body mass index (BMI). In addition, socio-demographic characteristics, and presence of mental illness in the family or caregiver will be investigated. As a result, the problems of mental health are positively associated with nutritional status of children; the emotional and behavioral problems prevalence will be higher among those with overweight. In addition, it is believed that poor mental health is associated with male children, of lower socioeconomic level, and who have a parent or caregiver with a diagnosis of mental disorder.