Sport: intense practice reduces smoking among boys

Sport does not have the same effects on young men and young women. This is in any case the finding of a study which set itself the objective of determining the effects that the practice of sport can have on the consumption of psychoactive substances and eating disorders in students, taking into account the frequency of the practicality and gender effect. The results were published in the December issue of the journal French Psychology.

Effects in boys

Previous studies have already highlighted the link between sports practice and eating disorders as well as the use of psychoactive substances. However, they were not interested in the impact according to the sex of the student, explain the researchers. In addition, the frequency of the practice was not evaluated, since the groups of sportsmen were compared to people not practicing sports at all.

The new work was carried out on 1073 students (36% boys, 64% girls) divided into three sports practice groups: rare (less than an hour per week), regular (up to eight hours per week) or intense (more than eight hours per week). Substance consumption (tobacco, alcohol, cannabis) was self-assessed by questionnaire, as were eating disorders.

The results highlight an interaction effect between frequency of practice and gender on oral control (sub-type of eating disorder) and smoking habits. Thus, on these two factors, the beneficial effects of sports practice only appeared in boys and the association increased with frequency: the more the participant exercised, the lower he had a score on the smoking and control test. oral whereas for young girls, the practice of sport had no impact on smoking behavior and oral control, whatever the frequency.

“These results allow us to conclude that the beneficial effects of sports activity differ according to gender and underline the importance of taking gender into account when promoting sports activity among students,” the researchers conclude.