Stephen R. Manske

Energy expenditure while playing active and inactive video games.

PURPOSE To examine energy expenditure (EE) when playing active and inactive videogames (VG). METHODS Predicted EE was measured among 51 undergraduate students while playing active and inactive VG (Ontario, Canada). RESULTS Predicted EE was significantly higher playing the active VG compared to the inactive VG according to heart rate monitor (97.4 kcal vs 64.7 kcal) and SenseWear armband (192.4 kcal vs 42.3 kcal) estimates. CONCLUSION Active VG may be a viable intervention tool for increasing EE among students who would otherwise be spending time in sedentary screen-based behaviors.

A Guided Decision-Making Program for Elementary School Students

The illicit use of beverage alcohol by adolescents has long been acknowledged as the primary drug problem among young people (Braucht, Brakarsh, Follingstad, & Berry, 1973; Wechsler & Thum, 1973). One report (U.S. Department of Health, Education, & Welfare, 1974) found that 7% of seventh grade students drank beer at least once a week, while 42% drank weekly by Grade 12. An Addiction Research Foundation of Ontario survey in 1974 found that alcohol use among Grade 7 students in a major metropolitan area had increased to 51.1% from the 1968 level of 22.9% (Smart & Fejer, 1974). Among a representative sample of 4,734 students in Ontario in 1979, alcohol use in the past year among Grade 7 students was reported by 57% (Smart, Goodstadt, Sheppard, & LeBain, 1980). An in-depth study of a smaller sample representative of Ontario revealed 24% of 15- to 17-year-olds have had at least one symptoms of dependent drinking (Smart, Blair, & Brown, 1978). Another study (Ennis, 1978) found that 23% of auto collisions among students 16 to 18 years of age involved alcohol despite alcohol use being illegal below age 18. Sixty percent of this same sample had driven a car within an hour of consuming two drinks and 20% had done so or more times. Since alcohol use is increasingly prevalent by the eight grade and significant problem drinking appears to occur soon thereafter, Grade 8 students would be an appropriate age group to target for alcohol intervention programs.

A cross-sectional examination of medicinal substance abuse and use of nonmedicinal substances among Canadian youth: findings from the 2012-2013 Youth Smoking Survey

BACKGROUND Medicinal substance abuse is prevalent in Canada; however, little is known about patterns of abuse among young people. In this study, we sought to characterize the abuse of medicinal substances, such as prescription medications and selected over-the-counter substances, as well as that of licit and illicit nonmedicinal substances, using a nationally representative sample of young people. METHODS Cross-sectional, nationally representative data for children in grades 7-12 were obtained from Health Canadas 2012-2013 Youth Smoking Survey (n = 38 667). Multinomial regression analyses were conducted to examine subgroup differences in medicinal substance abuse and comorbid abuse of both medicinal and nonmedicinal substances. RESULTS About 5% of youth reported abusing medicinal substances in the previous year. Dextromethorphan, a substance found in many cough and cold syrups, was the most widely abused (2.9%), followed by pain medications (2.6%), sleeping medications (1.8%), stimulants (1.7%) and sedatives (1.0%). Abuse of nonmedicinal substances aside from tobacco and alcohol was reported by 21.3% of the population, and abuse of any substances was detected in 23.0% of the surveyed population. Girls at each grade level reported higher rates of abuse of medicinal substances than boys. Regional differences were seen with regard to the types of substances abused across Canada. INTERPRETATION A substantial minority of Canadian youth report abusing medicinal substances, including over-the-counter medications (e.g., cough syrup) and prescriptions medications (e.g., pain medication). In contrast to nonmedicinal substances, girls were more likely than boys to report abuse of medicinal substances.