João Duarte

Attitudes of the Portuguese population regarding dietary fibre

Introducao: A fibra dietetica (FD) tem feito parte da dieta humana desde ha milenios, embora os seus beneficios tenham sido reconhecidos, principalmente, nas ultimas decadas. Objetivos: Porque a FD e um componente importante de uma dieta saudavel, o objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar os habitos de consumo dos Portugueses, bem como o seu conhecimento sobre os alimentos ricos em fibras e as suas atitudes em relacao a rotulagem dos alimentos. Metodos: Foi realizado um estudo descritivo transversal usando uma amostra nao-probabilistica de 382 participantes. Resultados: Os resultados mostraram que a ingestao de alimentos ricos em fibras, como frutas, vegetais e cereais, foi muito menor do que a ingestao recomendada. Os resultados tambem indicaram que a maioria das pessoas nao presta a atencao desejada a rotulagem de alimentos ou a informacao nutricional. Conclusoes: O nivel geral de conhecimento sobre FD foi considerado insatisfatorio, e, portanto, e necessario mais educacao nutricional e desenvolver esforcos para informar as pessoas acerca da importância da FD como parte da sua dieta diaria.

The use of psychoactive substances and adolescents’ school performance

The use of psychoactive substances is a public health problem. The use of these substances usually starts during adolescence and is associated with school problems, namely poor school performance. Research Questions included which psychoactive substances interfere with school performance (learning environment, planning of studies, methods of studying, reading skills, study motivation, overall school performance) in adolescents. The purpose of the study was to analyse the relationship between the use of psychoactive substances and adolescents’ school performance. The Research Methods included a cross-sectional study. Data were collected through a questionnaire which included socio-demographic information, psychoactive substances and a school performance scale (adapted from Fermin, 2005). Non-probability sampling for convenience, with 380 students from 7, 8 and 9 grade. Data were collected in 2011/2012 among students from a Basic School in the Portuguese Municipality of Viseu. Results: There was a 4.2% of prevalence of drug use: 4,3% in boys and 4.1% in girls. For both genders, the most commonly used drugs were hashish and marijuana (43.8%). Girls (p<0.001), younger students (p<0.001), those whose parents graduated from high-school or who have a higher education (p=0.019) and students who do not use drugs (p=0.000) do better in school. We concluded that drug abuse is associated with adolescents’ poorer school performance. It is therefore important to identify risk groups and develop policies to prevent youngsters from using psychoactive substances because of the major impact they have on individual, family and social levels.