Physical activity versus alcohol consumption among teenagers in chosen middle schools from cities central and south-western Poland.

BACKGROUND

Alcohol consumption is becoming increasingly popular among teenagers in Poland and affects younger and younger people. Many government promotional campaigns are aimed at reducing this phenomenon. There is an opinion that encouraging young people to practice sports and promoting a healthy lifestyle through sports and physical recreation could be helpful in solving this problem.

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to determine the relationship between physical activity declared by the Junior High Schools students and alcohol consumption.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The study was carried out on a group of 450 students from six Junior High Schools from central and south-western Poland. The Core Questions Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) - extended by authors of this paper with the descriptive part on the declared level of physical activity - was used to survey the teenagers.

RESULTS

Physical activity is an important factor influencing alcohol consumption and consumption frequency by Junior High Schools students. The study has shown that physical activity is related to alcohol consumption declared by the Junior High Schools students - the number of days they drink alcohol and the number of days when they are drunk, particularly girls. In fact, girls are more prone to consuming large amounts of alcohol and get drunk, especially when they belong to a group of physically passive subjects. The lowest alcohol consumption has been observed in Junior High Schools students, who had declared irregular physical activity, but the highest and the most frequent one has been observed in students, who had declared physical passivity. The students, mostly boys, who declared the regular physical activity (they most commonly practiced sports), had not abstained from alcohol, especially beer and had got drunk often.

CONCLUSIONS

The physical activity may be an important factor in preventing excessive alcohol consumption. Participation in physical activity is beneficial especially to girls, since when they remain physically passive, they often turn to alcohol. However, one should take into account the type of physical activity and the nature of the effort, as the authors of similar studies point out.