Here is more news about the role of healthy habits on preventing substance abuse from a new study published in the European Journal of Public Health.
This research found that healthy habits predicted reductions in hazardous alcohol use, including regular physical activity, daily fruit intake, and non-use of tobacco.
The study authors recommended targeting multiple health behaviors in interventions to reduce hazardous drinking.
Similarly, there is evidence of the protective influence of healthy behaviors on preventing alcohol and other substance use among youth.
For example, a study published in Translational Behavioral Medicine showed that increasing physical activity, fruit and vegetable consumption, and limiting TV time resulted in lower cigarette smoking and alcohol use among adolescents (https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13142-013-0197-0).
Together, these data indicate that promoting health-enhancing behaviors can be an effective strategy for reducing the risk of substance use and harm.
Since today’s youth and young adults experience multiple risks to their health and well-being, including alcohol, tobacco and illicit drug use, but also physical inactivity, inadequate nutrition, lack of sleep and uncontrolled stress, providing programs that address multiple health risks together can have a broader and perhaps larger influence on positive youth development than narrowly targeted drug education and prevention.
In particular, the aforementioned two studies suggest that a critical goal for effective substance use prevention programs should be to increase regular physical activity and fruit and vegetable consumption as a strategy for increasing positive substance use outcomes.
Read the new study abstract: https://academic.oup.com/eurpub/article/27/suppl_3/ckx189.139/4556921
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