Study Examines Modifiable Behaviors in Youth Associated with Headaches
A headache isn’t something necessarily unnatural for a high school student to complain about, especially in times of high stress. If such headaches are being caused by activities in which the student should not be engaged in the first place, it might be time to take a closer look.
German researchers decided to take a closer look at the phenomenon and their findings were reported in a recent Science Daily release. In their study, these researchers determined that high school students were experiencing greater numbers of migraines and tension-type headaches (TTH) due to alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking.
The researchers also found drinking coffee and a consistent physical inactivity to be linked with migraines. They were attempting to identify modifiable risk factors for the variety of headaches reported in the youth population.
In previous studies, researchers had found that headaches are the most often reported health complaint among youth as 5 to 15 percent of this age group appears to suffer from migraines and 15 to 25 percent deal with TTH. Until now, studies did not fully explore modifiable risk factors in the younger population.
In a study of 1,260 students in the 10th and 11th grades, researchers determined that 83.1 percent reported a headache at least one time in the previous six months. Of those 83.1 percent, 10.2 percent reported a migraine, 48.7 percent reported TTH and 19.8 percent reported experiencing a combination of the two.
An examination of diet revealed that 28.4 percent of the students studied never ate breakfast; 16.5 percent refrained from consuming any type of snack throughout the day; and only 24 percent took part in a warm lunch every day.
Alcohol consumption was widespread, however, as 38.5 percent of students consumed beer, 18.6 percent enjoyed wine; and 25.3 percent took part in cocktails at least once a week. Interestingly, 73.3 percent reported that they never smoked and 43.4 percent of students did not drink coffee.
