E-cigarette and marijuana use and the attainment of obesity prevention guidelines among U.S. adolescents

The association between marijuana and e-cigarette use and exercise behavior among adults

Background

As the prevalence of marijuana and e-cigarette use among American adults rises and the perceived risk decreases, more information is needed on the potential costs and benefits of marijuana and e-cigarette use, including patterns of exercise. Prior studies have found mixed results, lacked data on types of exercise, and involved only adolescents and young adults. Thus, the current study explored whether marijuana and e-cigarette use are associated with strength training, walking for exercise, or general physical activity among adults in the United States.

Method

2,591 adults from Wave V of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (2016-2018) comprised the sample. Separate one-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs) and post hoc tests examined whether participants' marijuana and e-cigarette use predicted their exercise, while follow-up analyses of covariance (ANCOVAs) probed significant effects.

Results

Results indicated that participants' marijuana and e-cigarette use predicted their walking for exercise, with marijuana users walking the highest number of times per week, followed by non-users, e-cigarette users, and dual users. However, this effect only approached significance after controlling for covariates. There were no significant differences in strength training or general exercise between groups.

Conclusion

These findings challenge the stereotype that marijuana and e-cigarette users are less active than non-users, and future research should examine the potential mechanisms of these findings.

Metabolic and Other Endocrine Elements with Regard to Lifestyle Choices: Focus on E-Cigarettes

Our objective was to overview recent data on metabolic/endocrine disorders with respect to e-cigarette (e-cig) use. This is a narrative review; we researched English, full-length, original articles on PubMed (between January 2020 and August 2023) by using different keywords in the area of metabolic/endocrine issues. We only included original clinical studies (n = 22) and excluded case reports and experimental studies. 3 studies (N1 = 22,385; N2 = 600,046; N3 = 5101) addressed prediabetes risk; N1 showed a 1.57-fold increased risk of dual vs. never smokers, a higher risk that was not confirmed in N2 (based on self-reported assessments). Current non-smokers (N1) who were dual smokers still have an increased odd of prediabetes (a 1.27-fold risk increase). N3 and another 2 studies addressed type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM): a lower prevalence of DM among dual users (3.3%) vs. cigarette smoking (5.9%) was identified. 6 studies investigated obesity profile (4 of them found positive correlations with e-cig use). One study (N4 = 373,781) showed that e-cig use was associated with obesity in the general population (OR = 1.6, 95%CI: 1.3-2.1, p < 0.05); another (N5 = 7505, 0.82% were e-cig-only) showed that obesity had a higher prevalence in dual smokers (51%) vs. cig-only (41.2%, p < 0.05), while another (N6 = 3055) found that female (not male) e-cig smokers had higher body mass index vs. non-smokers. Data on metabolic syndrome (MS) are provided for dual smokers (n = 2): one case-control study found that female dual smokers had higher odds of MS than non-smokers. The need for awareness with respect to potential e-cig--associated medical issues should be part of modern medicine, including daily anamnesis. Whether the metabolic/endocrine frame is part of the general picture is yet to be determined. Surveillance protocols should help clinicians to easily access the medical background of one subject, including this specific matter of e-cig with/without conventional cigarettes smoking and other habits/lifestyle elements, especially when taking into consideration metabolism anomalies.

The Association of Soft Drink Consumption and the 24-Hour Movement Guidelines with Suicidality among Adolescents of the United States

Background: Evidence is lacking for the association of the behaviors of the 24 h movement guidelines including sleep duration, physical activity, screen time, and soft drink consumption with suicidality among adolescents. Methods: Data were extracted from a national representative sample of Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBS) in the United States from 2011 to 2019. Binary logistic regression models with complex sampling designs were used to explore the association of the recommendations of the 24 h movement guidelines and soft drink consumption with suicidality. Results: The total prevalence of suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and suicide attempt with medical treatment was higher among adolescents who did not meet all the recommendations in the 24 h movement guidelines and had a higher level of soft drink consumption. Totally, not meeting all the recommendations of the 24 h movement guidelines was significantly associated with an increased risk of suicidal ideation (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.30–2.19) and suicide plan (OR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.34–2.33) compared with adolescents who meet all the recommendations. Soft drink consumption of ≥3 times/day was associated with an increased risk of suicidality including suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and suicide attempt with medical treatment, regardless of sex. Soft drink consumption of ≥3 times/day was significantly associated with an increased risk of suicide attempt and suicide attempt with medical treatment, regardless of whether the recommendations of physical activity, screen time, and sleep duration were met. Conclusion: Age-appropriate sleep duration, no more than 2 h of screen time per day, at least 1 h of physical activity per day as contained in the 24 h movement guidelines and less than one soft drink consumption per day are good targets to prevent involvement in suicidality. More actions for intervening in the movement and dietary behaviors among adolescents are needed to maintain physical and mental health.

The Serial Mediation of the Association between Breakfast Skipping and Suicidality by Weight Status and Depressive Symptoms: Findings from the National Youth Risk Behavior Surveys of the United States

Background: The evidence is limited for the dose–response association between breakfast skipping and suicidality. The underlying pathway from breakfast skipping to suicidality has also rarely been explored in previous studies. Methods: The data of Youth Risk Behavior Surveys (YRBSs) of the United States from 2011 to 2019 were used with a sample size of 74,074. The male: female ratio was nearly 1:1. Binary logistic regression models with complex sampling design were adopted to show the effect of breakfast skipping on weight status, depressive symptoms, and suicidality. Serial mediation was used to explore the association between breakfast skipping and suicidality by overweight/obesity and depressive symptoms. Findings: The weighted prevalence rates (95% confidence interval) of suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and medically serious suicide attempt for skipping breakfast totally (0 times/week) were 25.6% (24.4–26.8%), 21.7% (20.5–22.9%), 14.2% (13.0–15.3%), and 5.3% (4.6–5.9%). Breakfast skipping was significantly associated with increased risk of suicidal ideation, suicide plan, suicide attempt, and medically serious suicide attempt. There was statistical significance for the linear dose–response association between breakfast skipping and overweight/obesity, depressive symptoms, and suicidality regardless of sex and age. A serial mediation with effect sizes between 39.68% and 51.30% for the association between breakfast skipping and suicidality by overweight/obesity and depressive symptoms was found in this study. Conclusions: This study emphasizes the hazards of breakfast skipping, which could increase the risk of suicidality among adolescents. Overweight/obesity and depressive symptoms as the mediating factors for the association between breakfast skipping and suicidality should also be with more attention.