Adolescent Substance Use and Obesity

Overweight and obesity rates among adolescents in the United States have drastically increased in the last 30 years.  Current studies are inconclusive about the relationship between adolescent weight and substance use.   Because racial/ethnic minorities have different patterns of obesity, this paper examines the race interaction effects on the association between adolescent weight and substance use.  Data came from the CDC’s Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System, 2011.  A Multinomial Logistic Regression was used to evaluate if adolescent substance use correlated with weight status and to examine the interaction effects of race, while controlling for age and sex.  No association between alcohol use and overweight and obesity was found.  Overall there was a positive association between tobacco use and overweight and obesity (OR = 1.43, 95% CI = 1.13 – 1.80; OR = 1.92, 95% CI = 1.42 – 2.58 respectively) and a negative association between marijuana use and overweight and obesity (OR = 0.67, 95% CI = 0.51 – 0.89; OR = 0.63, 95% CI = 0.49–0.82 respectively).  However, African-American and Hispanic students who use tobacco were less likely to be obese, and Hispanic students who use marijuana were more likely to be obese compared to White students.  Knowing the relationship between obesity and substance use impacts how we design substance use and obesity interventions for adolescents.  In this study, adolescents who reported tobacco use had greater odds of being obese, while those who reported marijuana use had less odds of being obese, but these effects were different for racial/ethnic minorities.