Obese Teens More Likely to Take Up Smoking

Weight plays a role in drug abuse among teens, a new research states. The study revealed that obese teens are more at risk of smoking.

Researchers of the study said that obesity influences teens to smoke. But, such was not the case when it came to alcohol or marijuana.

The observations were made after analysing data collected by the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, which has information on mental and physical health of the teens as well as their drug use in 1995, 1996 and 2001. In 2001, at least 15,000 people participated.

The study findings showed that adolescents with a higher body mass index (BMI), a calculator of obesity, were more likely to smoke cigarettes. BMI measurements that were categorized as overweight or obese were not linked to an increased risk of drinking alcohol or smoking marijuana.

"Young people smoke cigarettes for a variety of reasons. For overweight or obese adolescents, the increased desire to improve social standing or fit in with others may also increase the probability of engaging in regular cigarette smoking," lead author H. Isabella Lanza, Ph.D., research associate with the UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) Integrated Substance Abuse Programs said in a press release. "I think we will see this play out even more in the public arena with a new generation of youth being persuaded to try e-cigarettes and other forms of 'healthier' nicotine products in order to advance their social standing."

The study, 'Does adolescent weight status predict problematic substance abuse patterns?' was published in the American Journal of Health Behavior.