0517 Association of THC Usage on Diet, Exercise, and Sleep in Hispanic/LatinX Teenagers

Abstract

Introduction Diet, exercise, and sleep are recognized as the three pillars of health, with the assertion that failure to address one will compromise the other two. We have previously observed an association between inhalant use on sleep in adolescents (JCSM 2021). Our previous data raised concern for disruption induced by nicotine among teenagers. Given the recent increase in THC consumption, we sought to test the hypothesis that THC use among teenagers and young adults would be associated with deleterious lifestyle factors including poor diet and minimal exercise. We further sought to test whether Hispanic/LatinX status was predictive of poor health practices. Methods We conducted a social media survey using Twitter and Instagram to gather data on willing participants. We obtained IRB approval and used validated instruments to gather data on variables of interest. We assessed past and current THC use including in what form (inhalant, edible etc) and concurrently obtained data on diet and exercise patterns using standardized questionnaires. People self reported race, ethnicity, gender, and other factors. Results Of the 471 responders who provided data, we removed suspicious data based on identical responses at a given time suggestive of ‘bots’. We isolated the n=58 (37.3% Hispanic LatinX) who were in our target age range (13-25yrs) with complete data. For THC use, 27/58 participants (46.6%) responded “yes” to current usage, whereas 0 reported previous usage and 31 reported “no” (53.4%). Among people who self-identified as Hispanic/Latinx, 81.8% reported using THC currently whereas among people self-identifying as non-Hispanic, only 24.3% reported current THC use. Among the people reporting regular THC use, diet and exercise tended to be non-favorable compared to non-THC users. Of the 58 participants, only 19 reported never vaping (32.8%) while 15 (25.9%) reported vaping daily or weekly. For cigarettes only 20 people (34.5%) reported never using cigarettes whereas 14 (24.1%) reported using daily or weekly. Conclusion Based on our social media survey, we observed a high prevalence of vaping, cigarette smoking and THC use among adolescents and young adults. People who self-identified as Hispanic/LatinX reported high rates of THC use compared to non-Hispanic people. The implications of these findings for the sleep health of teenagers and young adults are unclear, but may provide a therapeutic target for future research. Support (If Any) Dr. Crotty-Alexander is funded by VA Merit award and by NIH.