THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SPORTING ACTIVITY AND SMOKING-HABITS IN YOUNG-ADULTS

The authors investigated the relationship between sporting activity an d smoking habits in young Italian men. One thousand, one hundred fifty -three men, age 20 years, completed a self-administered questionnaire on their smoking habits and sporting activity patterns. Five hundred s ixty subjects (53%) were found to be smokers, with a high prevalence o f heavy smokers (33.6%). Four hundred sixty-four (44%) of the examined subjects were sportsmen. In the group of young men not engaged in spo rts, the rate of smokers was significantly higher. Non-sportsmen start ed smoking earlier than sportsmen, and the prevalence of heavy smokers was significantly higher in the non-sportsmen group than in the sport smen group. Finally, the young men not engaged in sports were more lik ely to be habitual smoke inhalers than sportsmen. These results sugges t that sporting activity may indirectly influence smoking habits.