Association between Marijuana use and obesity in a population of male adolescents in the United States in 2023

Introduction and Objectives: Marijuana is the most used psychotic worldwide, with 192 million users in 2016. In the United States (USA), a prevalence of 13.9% was estimated, of which 2.6 million people used it for the first time, being 46% adolescents from 12 to 17 years old, in the same year. Cannabis contains active ingredients that stimulate the appetite, habits that in the long term can unlink obesity. There are limited studies that link the use of marijuana and obesity in the adolescent population, which is why it was decided to investigate whether there is an association between the use of marijuana and obesity in a population of adolescents in the United States in 2023. Methods: This study is of a cross-sectional type, where a secondary analysis of the data from the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance System (YRBSS) from the year 2023 was carried out (n = 7112). This study compares male adolescents in the United States, marijuana users and non-users, obese and non-obese. Adolescents who did not show information about marijuana use, height and weight, were excluded from the study. The independent variable of the study was marijuana use, the dependent variable was obesity, and the confounding variables were age, race, intention to lose weight, use of other substances and medications. A bivariate descriptive analysis and unadjusted and adjusted logistic regression models were performed to obtain “Odds ratio” (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: There was no significant association between the use of marijuana and obesity (OR = 0.96 / CI = 0.53-2.12), being of another race (OR = 0.75 / CI = 0.35-1.61), doing physical activity (OR = 1.16 / IC = 0.57-2.37), use of medications (OR = 1.9 / IC = 0.38-10.28), use of other substances (OR = 0.7% / IC = 0.11-4.43). However, people with the intention of losing weight (OR = 0.09 / CI = 0.04-0.20) had a significant result. Conclusions: Although marijuana use and obesity are highly prevalent in adolescents in the United States, in this study there was no statistically significant association between these variables. Further studies are required to support our result, since due to the limited information it was difficult to compare with other studies.