A study lead by Sabrina Molinaro and Francesca Denoth of the Italian National Research Council, surveyed over 33,000 Italian high school students and discovered that students who were either underweight or overweight consumed 20 to 40% more illegal drugs compared to students who were of normal weight.

Additional examinations revealed that the association between these two factors was mainly mediated by psychological factors, such as friendships, self-esteem and parents’ educational level. The report is published in the Nov. 16 issue of the online journal PLoS ONE.

According to the researchers, abnormal weight and illegal drugs are not directly linked in cause-effect relationship, but rather likely due to prevalent underlying social factors and dissatisfaction.

Dr. Molinaro explains:

“Eating disorders have largely increased during the last decades, and obesity is a major public-health problem, especially since the phenomenon is spreading among children. Thus we believe that the results are important to better define targeted interventions.”

Written by Grace Rattue