Thérésa Lebacq

Sciensano · Epidemiology and public health

Background Rising levels of childhood obesity is a worldwide concern, with physical inactivity considered to be amongst the many contributors. Worryingly, physical activity (PA) tends to decline throughout adolescence. Although there is extensive research on the sociodemographic disparities of adolescent PA participation, less evidence is available...

Purpose To assess country-level trends in the prevalence of daily consumption of sugary (2002–2018) and diet (2006–2018) soft drinks among European adolescents, overall and by family material affluence. Methods We used 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018 data from the ‘Health Behaviour in School-aged Children’ survey. Nationally representative samples...

Background/Objectives Although regular breakfast consumption is associated with various health benefits, many adolescents skip this meal, particularly those with shorter sleep durations. In order to better understand the association between sleep duration and breakfast consumption among youth, we analyzed the association between weekday morning tir...

This study aimed to estimate disparities in dietary habits according to the individual and contextual socioeconomic status (SES), while taking into account school nutrition-related characteristics. Data came from the 2018 cross-sectional "Health Behaviour in School-aged Children" (HBSC) survey. Multilevel multiple logistic regressions were performe...

Background High intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contributes to childhood obesity. In Europe, time trends in the consumption of SSBs and artificially sweetened beverages (ASBs) are limited. In addition, differences in the methodologies hinders cross-national comparisons. We described temporal trends in the prevalence of daily consumption...

This study analyzes the associations between living arrangements after a parental separation, and the adolescent’s self-rated health and life satisfaction in French-speaking Belgium. Data are based on 39,294 adolescents who participated in the three waves of the cross-sectional HBSC survey. Among adolescents living with separated parents, the self-...

Purpose High intake of sugary soft drinks (SSDs or sodas) contributes to detrimental cardio-metabolic indicators in youth. Monitoring SSD consumption is informative for risk assessment but lacking in Eastern Europe. This study aims at describing time trends in the national prevalence of daily consumption of SSDs and related socioeconomic difference...

Background High intake of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) contributes to detrimental cardio-metabolic indicators in youth. Monitoring of SSB consumption is lacking in Eastern Europe. Objectives We assessed trends in the prevalence of adolescent daily consumption of SSBs in 14 Eastern European countries between 2002 and 2018, both overall and acco...

Dietary habits are influenced by various determinants that may evolve over time. This study aimed to examine, among adolescents in Belgium, trends in the dietary habits between 1990 and 2014 and to determine changes in family and regional disparities related to diet during this time period. In the 1990, 2002 and 2014 cross-sectional “Health Behavio...

Introduction Early alcohol consumption can irreversible damage the adolescents’ brain and may affect their quality of life. In order to better prevent such a deleterious behaviour, knowing its determinants is needed. So far, only few studies among adolescents aged <15 years exist, of which the majority failed to include gender differences. Therefor...

Objectives To investigate sex differences in sociodemographic and lifestyle correlates of frequent energy drink (ED) consumption in adolescents. Study design This study was based on data collected among French-speaking Belgian adolescents aged 11–20 years (n = 8137) within the 2018 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study. Methods Multiple...

Introduction During adolescence, while the body is still in development, alcohol consumption can cause irreversible damages. Well-being and family, social and school environment may influence alcohol consumption among adolescents. According to their gender, they may be more or less receptive to some of these influences. Our aim was to identify pote...

Over the past decade, energy drinks (ED) have become increasingly popular among adolescents. Due to their high content in caffeine, sugar and other energy-promoting components, frequent ED consumption may have adverse health effects, like cardiovascular symptoms, sleep impairment, and nervousness. Previous studies have shown that ED consumption was...

Introduction During adolescence, physical activity tends to decline, especially among girls. Adolescent inactivity is due in part to biological factors, among which pubertal development may play a role. Our aim was to study in girls, the relationship of sexual maturation based on menarche with physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Methods Ana...

Background Electronic cigarette may help adults quit smoking. For adolescents, the concern is whether e-cigarette initiation is a gateway to subsequent smoking. Our objectives were to describe the sequence of conventional cigarette and e-cigarette initiations among adolescents who had already used both products, and to analyse the current smoking b...

Objectives: Previous research indicates that the impact of immigration on health tends to be specific as it is influenced by many factors such as life stage and host country. The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between immigration and adolescent health within the multicultural context of the Brussels-Capital Region in Belgium. S...

Background Early sexual intercourse (SI) may have long-lasting negative impacts on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). So far, these impacts have been studied using age for defining early SI instead of feelings about its timing. The present study examined the association between feelings about the timing of first SI and current HRQoL. Methods...

Little information concerning social disparities in adolescent dietary habits is currently available, especially regarding migration status. The aim of the present study was to estimate socioeconomic disparities in dietary habits of school adolescents from different migration backgrounds. In the 2014 cross-sectional “Health Behavior in School-Aged...

Background: Between 2014 and 2015 a second National Food Consumption Survey was conducted in Belgium in order to evaluate the habitual food consumption in the general Belgian population and to compare it with food-based dietary guidelines (FBDG) and results of the 2004 Food Consumption Survey. Methods: A representative sample of the Belgian popula...

Purpose The current study investigated the association between body mass index (BMI) and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among a large and non-clinical sample of adolescents, and tested the possible moderating effect of perceived teacher and classmate support on this association. Methods French-speaking Belgian adolescents (n = 11,342) self...

Background In Belgium, as in many other countries, the juvenile practice of physical activity is insufficient. A growing attention has been paid to environmental factors that may influence physical activity but with inconsistent findings. This study aims to estimate the association between daily life environment characteristics and physical activit...

Introduction After a parental separation, different types of living arrangements exist for children and adolescents; joint physical custody (when children spend equal time with both parents), mostly with one parent and sole custody. Current findings on the effects of living arrangements on adolescents are not consistent. For some authors, joint phy...

Introduction At young age, while the body is still in development, alcohol consumption can cause irreversible damages. In this study, we were interested in sociodemographic characteristics associated with alcohol consumption among young adolescents in French-speaking Belgium. Such characteristics were investigated separately in the Walloon Region (...

Background Dietary patterns are one of the major determinants as far as health and burden of disease is concerned. Food consumption data are essential to evaluate and develop nutrition and food safety policies. The last national food consumption survey in Belgium took place in 2004 among the Belgian population aged 15 years and older. Since dietary...

Background There is strong evidence to indicate that regular moderate intensity physical activity is associated with health benefits. Furthermore, sedentary behavior has been related with an increased risk for all-cause mortality. The accurate measurement of physical activity and sedentary behavior is therefore vital to evaluate their health impact...

The fourth report of the Belgian National Food Consumption 2014-2015 presents the consumption of food, the intake of macronutrients, vitamines, minerals, fortified food and food supplements in the Belgian population aged 3 to 64 years old. For an easy manageable version of the report, surf to (Dutch) https://fcs.wiv-isp.be/nl/SitePages/Resultaten.a...

Third report from the Belgian Food Consumption Survey 2014-2015 describing physical activity and sedentary behavior in a national representative sample of 3200 persons (3-64 years old) living in Belgium. French version of the report can be found at https://fcs.wiv-isp.be/fr

Increasing input self-sufficiency is often viewed as a target to improve sustainability of dairy farms. However, few studies have specifically analysed input self-sufficiency, by including several technical inputs and without only focussing on animal feeding, in order to explore its impact on farm sustainability. To address this gap, our work has t...

Intensive livestock farming has raised issues about environmental impacts and food security during the past 20 years. As a consequence, there is a strong social demand for sustainable livestock systems. Sustainable livestock systems should indeed be environmentally friendly, economically viable for farmers, and socially acceptable, notably for anim...