Cell phone use is associated with alcohol and tobacco consumption in insufficiently active adolescents

Background The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of alcohol and tobacco experimentation by adolescents and to verify the association between cell phone use with alcohol and tobacco consumption in adolescents with different physical activity levels. Methods This work is a cross-sectional study with a representative sample of 772 adolescents (52.6% girls; age: 16.63±0.70 years old). Self-reported questionnaires were assessed to verify the cell phone use, physical activity level, alcohol and tobacco consumption. Logistic regressions tested the associations obtaining odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals. Results Alcohol and tobacco consumption prevalence reached 43.4% and 7.8% of adolescents, respectively. Insufficiently active adolescents who reported using cell phones more than and 2 hours a day were more likely to use alcohol (OR: 1.58; 95% CI: 1.14 - 2.19) and tobacco (OR: 2.46; 95% CI: 1.23 - 4.96). Conclusions We found a high prevalence of cell phone use and a worrying prevalence of alcohol and tobacco consumption by adolescents. The use of the cell phone for more than two hours a day seemed to be a risk factor for alcohol and tobacco consumption in insufficiently active adolescents.