GlobalData estimates that by the end of 2024, there will be around 14.50 million diagnosed prevalent cases of men and women aged 15 years and above in the UK who would have engaged in smoking cessation; that number is forecast to increase to 15.30 million by the end of 2031.
Smoking cessation efforts are important as the prevalence of smoking in young people has increased with age in the past decade, indicating a need for more or better public health interventions to reduce the uptake of tobacco smoking during childhood to young adulthood, which has been associated with impaired brain functioning, reduced physical fitness, and increased arterial stiffness. The latter adverse health outcome has been firmly established in the literature as a precursor of cardiovascular mortality in adults. Additionally, persistent smoking from adolescence through to young adulthood is a risk factor for sub-clinical atherosclerosis. People are living increasingly more sedentary lifestyles; previously published research by professor Andrew Agbaje from the University of Eastern Finland that was also accelerometer-based longitudinal studies has shown that sedentary time (ST) increased from six hours per day in childhood to nine hours per day by young adulthood. Research led by Agbaje carried out a 13-year-long cohort study published in Behaviour Research and Therapy in 2025 which found an inverse relationship between engaging in moderate to vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA) during childhood and smoking at age 24 years.
Agbaje used data from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) birth cohort. ALSPAC recruited pregnant women residing in Avon, England, UK who had expected delivery dates between 1991 to 1992; of the initial 14,062 live births, 13,988 were alive at one year of age. During the study, children began taking part in regular visits at seven years of age. Measurements on physical activity engagement were measured at ages 11, 15, and 24 years of age for 2,503 participants where information from at least one time point was available. Physical activity level was categorised as either ST, light intensity physical activity (LPA), or MVPA. Smoking status, defined as having smoked in the past 30 days, was measured at ages 13, 15, and 24 years.
The results from descriptive statistics showed that the prevalence of smoking increased with age; at 13, 15, and 24 years the prevalence of smoking was 1.5%, 13.5%, and 26.6% respectively. Participants who did not smoke at ages 13 and 15 years also engaged in high MVPA at 24 years old compared to their counterparts who smoked. From ages 11 to 24 years, ST increased whilst LPA and MVPA decreased.
After adjusting for confounding variables, ST and LPA at age 11, 11-15, or 11-24 years had no statistical association with smoking status at ages 13, 15, 24, or 13-24 years. However, engaging in higher MVPA at ages 11, 11-15, or 11-24 years was associated with a statistically significant reduction in odds of incidental and progressive smoking at ages 13, 15, 24, or 13-24 years. Engaging in MVPA from ages 11-24 years reduced the odds of smoking between 13-24 years by 0.8%; higher MVPA in ages 11-24 and 11-15 years was also associated with a statistically significant 0.5% and 0.7% reduction in the odds of smoking at age 24 years.
This was the largest longitudinal study investigating the prevalence of smoking in adolescence and young adulthood at repeat intervals over time. The findings indicate MVPA was inversely associated with smoking in adulthood; this suggests non-invasive interventions such as encouraging increased physical activity in childhood would effectively reduce the uptake of smoking in later adolescence and adulthood.
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This article was originally published by a www.clinicaltrialsarena.com . Read the Original article here. .