Relationships between inappropriate eating habits and problematic alcohol use, cigarette and waterpipe dependence among male adolescents in Lebanon

Jana Berro,Souheil Hallit,Marwan Akel,Sahar Obeid

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-10184-2

Abstract

Backgroundit is important to investigate the relationship between disordered eating in male adolescents and smoking and alcohol consumption as they are risk factors to other diseases as well. For example, high levels of alcohol accompanied by the acidic damage and nutritional deficit exhibited in people with disordered eating habits - due to induced vomiting - has been shown to increase risk of esophageal cancer. Considering the very few studies done on disordered eating prevailing in males and the prevalence of smoking and drinking habits, our study aims to investigate the correlation between inappropriate eating habits and one’s dependence on cigarettes, waterpipes, and alcohol all the while focusing on male adolescents.MethodsThis was a cross-sectional observational study that enrolled 389 male students (13–17 years of age) drawn from five Lebanese schools between October and December 2019.ResultsThe MANCOVA analysis was performed taking the addiction scales as the dependent variables and the EAT-26 score as an independent variable, adjusting for the covariates (age, BMI and household crowding index). Higher EAT-26 scores (more inappropriate eating attitudes) were significantly associated with higher waterpipe dependence (B = 0.11; CI 0.06–0.17) and more problematic alcohol use (B = 0.08; CI 0.04–0.12), but not cigarette dependence.ConclusionsThis study revealed an association between inappropriate eating and increased drinking and smoking the waterpipe, but not cigarettes. The manifestation of inappropriate eating habits was found to be significant among male adolescents; in the literature, this is also true for female adolescents. In Lebanon, the engagement of adolescents in alcohol drinking and waterpipe smoking is frequent as they are accessible due to the lack of law enforcement and supervision in the country. In addition, while this study found an association between inappropriate eating habits and dependency on smoking and drinking, further investigation should be done on the role of one’s psychology in their exhibition of disordered eating as means to prevent the manifestation of these habits.

Highlights

Eating habits vary greatly from one person to another where inappropriate habits range from dieting to overeating [1]
When dividing the EAT score into two categories according to the median (=13), the results showed that 185 (47.6%) of the adolescents had inappropriate eating attitudes
Bivariate analysis Higher age and higher Body Mass Index (BMI) were significantly associated with higher problematic alcohol use

Summary

Introduction

Eating habits vary greatly from one person to another where inappropriate habits range from dieting to overeating [1]. Disordered eating habits, usually in attempt of weight control, are more common among female than among male adolescents, with the prevalence being 50.7 and 33.7%, respectively [3]. Healthy weight is misconstrued among high school students disordered eating behaviors are prominent among adolescents [4, 5]. Eating disorders include a spectrum of numerous disorders, the most common ones being anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa [8]. Anorexia is usually prevalent in females rather than males partly due to the pressures imposed by society’s standards in regards to women looking ‘thin’ and ‘slim’ [10]. Women seem less likely to experience subthreshold binge eating disorder than men [10, 11]; overweight and obesity are, more common among males [12]

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Discussion

Conclusion