257707 Hawaii Youth Tobacco, Alcohol, and Marijuana Use by Family Structure and BMI

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Heather Glow, MPH, CHES , Prevention and Control, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI
Rebecca Knight, MPH , Prevention and Control, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI
Thomas Wills, PhD , Prevention and Control, University of Hawaii Cancer Center, Honolulu, HI
Background/Purpose: Project success is a longitudinal four year study examining the prevalence and impact of tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana on Hawai'i youth. Total participants for year one= 985. Results: Results of youth alcohol use indicate that 68% of respondents had chosen “I have never had alcohol in my life” and 19.2% had checked “I had tried alcohol 1-2 times.” Results of smoking rates show that 91.3% responded “I had never smoked cigarettes in my life and 5% responded “ I have tried 1-2 cigarettes. Marijuana rates indicated that 94.1% had response “I have never tried marijuana and 3.4% had tried marijuana 1-2 times. Results indicated a correlation with tobacco use and student body mass index (BMI) p.001 r = 0.110 at 95% CI. Higher smoking rates correlated to higher BMI. Substance use rates were affected by ethnic identity. Students who self-identified as, Asian, White, Filipino, and Native Hawaiian demonstrated higher smoking rates (p 0.011 r= 0.084) and alcohol consumption rates (p =0.02 r= .101). Family structure had an impact on substance use. Students of single parent families demonstrated higher rates of alcohol consumption (p=010 r= .075). Students of blended families (parents and grandparents) showed a strong correlation for alcohol consumption (p=001 r=.093). Conclusion: This population is of specific interest in that Hawai'i is culturally diverse; many mainstream approaches to youth substance use prevention are not applicable to this population. Therefore,interactions found in this study will be a useful tool to enhance preventative measures taken against youth substance use in Hawai'i

Learning Areas:
Diversity and culture
Public health or related research

Learning Objectives:
Identify tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use among Hawaii youth Identify youth tobacco use defined by ethnic identity. Identify youth alcohol use defined by ethnic identity. Compare youth tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use and youth BMI. Compare youth tobacco, alcohol, and marijuana use and youth family structure.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have served as a research associate with project success a tobacco alcohol and marijuana youth research project for two years. I have also been a research associate on projects with adolescent drug use and media influences for the past two years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.