Overweight teens who smoke and exercise infrequently are three times more likely to get headaches and migraines than teens with healthier lifestyles, Norwegian researchers said.
More than half of the teens in a study who had all three negative lifestyle factors had frequent headaches compared with 25 per cent of normal-weight, non-smoking teens who exercised. Teens with two of the negative factors were 1.8 times more likely to have frequent headaches than those who had none of them, Dr. John-Anker Zwart of the University of Oslo and colleagues reported in the journal Neurology .
The researchers did not determine whether the obesity, smoking and lack of exercise caused the headaches, or were connected in some other way. “These lifestyle factors have rarely been studied in teens,” said Dr. Andrew Hershey of the University of Cincinnati, who wrote a commentary on the findings. “This study is a vital step toward a better understanding of lifestyle factors and potential preventive measures that can be taken,” Hershey said in a statement.
For the study, nurses interviewed more than 5,800 13- to 18-year-olds in Norway about headaches and took their weight and height measurements. The teens completed a questionnaire about physical activity and smoking.
They found that:
* Overweight teens were 40 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches than other teens.
* Teens who smoked were 50 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches.
* Teens who exercised less than twice a week were 20 per cent more likely to have frequent headaches than those who exercised at least twice a week and had no other negative factors.
The researchers said headache treatment in teens may need to look at lifestyle factors, including exercise, diet and smoking.