Relationships between Body Image, Body Mass Index, and Smoking in Korean Adolescents: Results of a Nationwide Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey.

Woo-Taek Lee,Seok-Jin R Lee,Jee Hoon Kim,Seri Hong,Eun-Cheol Park,Hye In Kim

doi:10.7314/apjcp.2015.16.15.6273

Woo-Taek Lee, Seok-Jin R Lee + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.7314/apjcp.2015.16.15.6273

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Abstract

This study assessed the association between subjective body image or objective body mass index (BMI) and the risk of daily smoking in Korean adolescents, with a purpose of identifying the most suitable models. Using the 2013 9th Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey data for 72,435 students, odds ratios were calculated for daily smoking in the past month, according to the subjective body image and calculated BMI using a respective multiple logistic regression model. The combined effect of these two factors was also analyzed by pairing a BMI category with a subjective body image category, using odds ratios for the same event within each sex group. Among the surveyed students, 7.2% of boys and 1.8% of girls were classified as daily smokers. Students who perceived themselves as being very obese tended to be at lower risk of daily smoking (OR=0.61 in boys with 95% CI=0.47 to 0.79; OR=0.66 in women with 95% CI=0.47 to 0.93). In addition, boys within the obese or overweight BMI category showed a lower risk of daily smoking (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.77-0.96). Lean BMI was significantly associated with higher odds ratios for daily smoking only in female students (OR=1.24, 95% CI: 1.02-1.52). When pairing these two objective and subjective factors, results suggested that subjective body image has a greater effect on daily smoking than BMI in both boys and girls. In both male and female students, subjective body image had a greater effect on daily smoking than body mass index. A model using the combination of BMI and subjective body image was the best fit in girls, in contrast to the model using subjective body image only best suitable in boys, for the prediction of daily smoking. These results including several factors associated with daily smoking in Korean students, provide useful data for the development and implementation of smoking intervention and cessation programs for adolescents.

Highlights

Adolescent smoking is a major health problem in Korea, the country with the highest rate of adolescent smoking worldwide
Body Image, body mass index (BMI) and Smoking in Korean Adolescents: Results of a Nationwide Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey with daily smoking many of the students within the daily smoker group had
When comparing the odds ratios for daily smoking according to the combinations of BMI and subjective body image, in male students, among the BMI group of overweiqht or obese and that of normal, significantly lower daily smoking rates were observed only in the combinations with slightly overweight or obese body image perception

Summary

Introduction

Adolescent smoking is a major health problem in Korea, the country with the highest rate of adolescent smoking worldwide. In 2013, according to the Korea Youth Risk Behavior Web-based Survey, a national survey conducted jointly between the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Ministry of Education, the adolescent smoking rate was 9.7%. This figure is still high, there has been a steady decline since the record high of 13.3% in 2007. When viewed according to sex, girls exhibit a much lower rate of smoking compared to boys, 4.6% and 14.4%, respectively (Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). The 2013 survey was conducted at a time when tobacco sales to youths were prohibited under the Youth Protection Act, suggesting that a very high level of smoking has persisted

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