title: Sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents: a systematic review.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the methodological characteristics of the studies selected and assess variables associated with sedentary behavior in Brazilian children and adolescents.
  
  
  METHODS
  For this systematic review, we searched four electronic databases: PubMed, Web of Knowledge, LILACS, SciELO. Also, electronic searches were applied in Google Scholar. A supplementary search was conducted in the references lists of the included articles and in non-indexed journals. We included observational studies with children and adolescents aged from three to 19 years developed in Brazil, presenting analyses of associations based on regression methods and published until September 30, 2014.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 255 potential references retrieved by the searches, 49 met the inclusion criteria and composed the descriptive synthesis. In this set, we identified a great number of cross-sectional studies (n = 43; 88.0%) and high methodological variability on the types of sedentary behavior assessed, measurement tools and cut-off points used. The variables most often associated with sedentary behavior were "high levels of body weight" (in 15 out of 27 studies; 55.0%) and "lower level of physical activity" (in eight out of 16 studies; 50.0%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings of this review raise the following demands to the Brazilian agenda of sedentary behavior research geared to children and adolescents: development of longitudinal studies, validation of measuring tools, establishment of risk cut-offs, measurement of sedentary behavior beyond screen time and use of objective measures in addition to questionnaires. In the articles available, the associations between sedentary behavior with "high levels of body weight" and "low levels of physical activity" were observed in different regions of Brazil.
authors.affiliation: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Paulo Henrique
authors.initials: PH
authors.lastname: Guerra
authors.affiliation: Centro de Ciências da Saúde, Universidade Federal da Paraíba, João Pessoa, PB, Brasil.
authors.forename: José Cazuza
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: de Farias Júnior
authors.affiliation: Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades, Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brasil.
authors.forename: Alex Antonio
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Florindo
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D001938:Brazil; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012307:Risk Factors; D057185:Sedentary Behavior; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult