Bidirectional relationship between the body mass index and substance use in young men

ABSTRACT

Background: Obesity and substance use are major concern in young people. This study explored the bidirectional longitudinal relationships between the body mass index (BMI) of young men and their use of (1) 4 classes of nonmedical prescription drugs; (2) alcohol; (3) tobacco; and (4) cannabis. Methods: Baseline and follow-up data from the Cohort Study on Substance Use Risk Factors were used (N = 5007). A cross-lagged panel model, complemented by probit models as sensitivity analysis, was run to determine the bidirectional relationships between BMI and substance use. Alcohol was assessed using risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD); tobacco, using daily smoking; and cannabis, using hazardous cannabis use (defined as twice-weekly or more cannabis use). Nonmedical prescription drugs use (NMPDU) included opioid analgesics, sedatives/sleeping pills, anxiolytics, and stimulants. Results: Different associations were found between BMI and substance use. Only RSOD (β = −.053, P = .005) and NMPDU of anxiolytics (β = .040, P = .020) at baseline significantly predicted BMI at follow-up. Baseline RSOD predicted a lower BMI at follow-up, whereas baseline NMPDU of anxiolytics predicted higher BMI at follow-up. Furthermore, BMI at baseline significantly predicted daily smoking (β = .050, P = .007) and hazardous cannabis use (β = .058, P = .030). Conclusions: These results suggest different associations between BMI and the use of various substances by young men. However, only RSOD and NMPDU of anxiolytics predicted BMI, whereas BMI predicted daily smoking and hazardous cannabis use.

KEYWORDS:

• Alcohol
• BMI
• cannabis
• cigarette smoking
• longitudinal study
• NMPDU

Author contributions

A.N. was primarily responsible for the design and drafted the manuscript. G.G. helped improve the manuscript during the process. Finally, S.B., J.S., S.D., Y.H., M.M., and J.D. made contributions to the content of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Funding

The study was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant FN 33CS30_139467), which takes no influence on topics and contents of research or on the decision to which journal research is submitted. The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.