Physical activity as a factor protecting teenage boys from tobacco and marihuana use

The aim of the study was to answer the question if physical activity protects teenagers from psychoactive substance use, and whether this relationship depends on gender and activity intensity and frequency.

The study was conducted in 2013/14 as part of the international HBSC study (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children), using the method of auditorium survey, conducted among a random sample of Polish teenagers. In the analysis, only answers of the oldest group of respondents (1484 students aged 14.6-16.5) were taken into consideration. Girls constituted 52.8% of the sample; 75.6% of pupils attended 3rd grade of lower secondary school. The research tool was an international questionnaire containing, among others, questions about physical activity (moderate and intense) and the use of psychoactive substances (tobacco, alcohol, marihuana) within 30 days prior to the survey.

In respect to both moderate and intense physical activity, boys were more active than girls (p<0.001). Within 30 days preceding the study, 39.0% of respondents drank alcohol, 23.5% smoked cigarettes, and 10.7% smoked marihuana. Among the group of boys, the more physical activity they undertook, the less they smoked tobacco and used marihuana. With regard to alcohol in boys and among girls, for all psychoactive substances, association with physical activity has not been confirmed. The chance of abstinence from cigarettes and marihuana rose about 2-4 times in boys who devoted at least one hour four times a week to moderate physical activity.

Physical activity protects boys from tobacco and marihuana use. Preventive programs designed to reduce these psychoactive substances use should engage teenagers in physical activity.