Effects of social and environmental restrictions, and changes in alcohol availability in adolescents' binge drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AIMS: The aim of the present study was to estimate the evolution of binge drinking since the pre-pandemic period, and throughout the pandemic period with the application and lifting of the restrictions in adolescents aged 12 to 19 years old in school in Central Catalonia. METHODOLOGY: Quasi-experimental time series study with two samples of adolescents. The first sample (1st wave of survey, pre-pandemic period) was obtained between the months of September 2019 to March 2020 (n = 6621) and the second sample (2nd wave of survey, pandemic period) between the months of October 2021 and March 2022 (n = 7576). The dependent variable was monthly binge drinking. The main independent variable was the period of data collection (1st and 2nd wave), and gender and grade were also included. Twenty-one time slices were performed by fortnight and the binge drinking prevalence of the previous month was extracted in each of them. Interrupted time series analysis was performed and Poisson regression models with robust variance were estimated. RESULTS: The data indicated a significant increase in the prevalence of binge drinking in certain periods in girls [easing of measures in October, aPR: 2.25 (1.03-4.89); and total lifting of restrictions in February, aPR: 3.29 (1.57-6.89)] and a reduction in consumption in periods of tightening of restrictions. After the upturn before the return to the pre-pandemic situation binge drinking followed a decreasing trend in both sexes [aPR boys: 0.73 (95%CI: 0.66-0.81); aPR girls: 0.78 (95%CI: 0.71-0.86)]. CONCLUSIONS: Periods of community interventions aimed at protecting people's health have had an impact on other health behaviors or aspects of health such as binge drinking, and differentially across groups and communities.

Relationship between Diet Quality and Socioeconomic and Health-Related Factors in Adolescents by Gender.

Adolescence is a key period for consolidating heathy lifestyles and proper eating habits that can last into adulthood. To analyze the diet quality of Spanish adolescents and its association with socioeconomic factors and health behaviors by gender, a cross-sectional study was conducted using data from the DESKcohort project, consisting of a biannual panel survey on health, health behaviors, and associated determinants, collected in secondary education centers. The study population consisted of 7319 students aged 12 to 18 years. Data were collected from October 2019 to March 2020. The dependent variable was diet quality score according to the Spanish adaptation of the Healthy Eating Index (S-HEI). The independent variables included were socioeconomic factors and health behaviors. We conducted linear regression separately by gender. Diet quality score was significantly higher for girls than for boys (68 and 65, respectively, p < 0.001). For both genders, poorer diet quality was associated with a low level of physical activity [-0.9 (95% CI = -1.6:-0.2) in boys, -1.2 (95% CI = -1.9:-0.4) in girls], alcohol use [-2.5 (95% CI = -3.7:-1.3) in boys, -1.0 (95% CI = -1.9:0.0) in girls], poor self-perceived health [-1.1 (95% CI = -2.4:0.2) in boys, -3.5 (95% CI = -4.6:-2.4) in girls], and having attended Intermediate Level Training Cycles [-2.9 (95% CI = -4.3:-1.5) in boys, -1.9 (95% CI = -3.5:-0.3) in girls]. In girls, poorer diet quality also was associated with low mood [-1.1 (95% CI = -1.9:-0.3)]. The variance was 9% in boys and 12% in girls. Our results highlight the need to consider socioeconomic and health-related factors, as well as gender, when conducting interventions to promote healthy eating among adolescents.