ORIGINAL ARTICLE  EPIDEMIOLOGY AND CLINICAL MEDICINE 

The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 2021 March;61(3):444-51

DOI: 10.23736/S0022-4707.20.11356-2

Copyright © 2020 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

Cell phone use is associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption in insufficiently active adolescents

Thiago S. PIOLA ¹ ✉, Ana B. PACÍFICO ¹, Jhonatan G. CAMPOS ¹, Anelize G. RIBEIRO ¹, Eliane D. BACIL ¹, Michael P. SILVA ², Wagner CAMPOS ¹

¹ Research Center on Physical Activity and Health, Department of Physical Education, Federal University of Parana, Curitiba, Brazil; ² School of Medicine, Federal University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Brazil

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco experimentation by adolescents and to verify the association between cell phone use with alcohol and tobacco consumption in adolescents with different physical activity levels.
METHODS: This work is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 772 adolescents (52.6% girls; age: 16.63±0.70 years old). Self-reported questionnaires were assessed to verify the cell phone use, physical activity level, alcohol and tobacco consumption. Logistic regressions tested the associations obtaining odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals.
RESULTS: Alcohol and tobacco consumption prevalence reached 43.4% and 7.8% of adolescents, respectively. Insufficiently active adolescents who reported using cell phones more than and 2 hours a day were more likely to use alcohol (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.14 - 2.19) and tobacco (OR: 2.46; 95% CI: 1.23 - 4.96).
CONCLUSIONS: We found a high prevalence of cell phone use and a worrying prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption by adolescents. The use of the cell phone for more than two hours a day seemed to be a risk factor for alcohol and tobacco consumption in insufficiently active adolescents.

KEY WORDS: Motor activity; Smartphone; Alcoholism; Tobacco; Adolescent