Investigating BMI, Methamphetamine Use, and Sexual Orientation

This report examines the relationship between Body Mass Index (BMI) and methamphetamine use, focusing on the youth population in the United States, particularly in Chicago. The study investigates the prevalence of methamphetamine use and obesity, highlighting the significant health crisis. The research explores the connection between methamphetamine use and sexual orientation, noting higher rates among bisexual and gay men compared to heterosexual men. The study proposes using data from the Youth Risk Behavioral Surveillance System (YRBS) to analyze the association between methamphetamine use and BMI, considering sexual orientation as a moderating variable. The Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) is applied to explain the behaviors associated with drug use and obesity. The report concludes by emphasizing the complex relationship between methamphetamine use and obesity, acknowledging the need for further research to determine causality.

Running head: BMI AND METHAMPHETAMINE USE 1
BMI AND METHAMPHETAMINE USE
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation

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BMI and Methamphetamine Use
The peak stimulating health crisis currently in the US is substance use and obesity amid
the youth. Methamphetamine is therefore categorised as an illicit element that causes high
addiction to the central nervous system stimulant and can be administered through smoking,
oral ingestion, injection and snorting (NIDA, 2018). On the other hand, Obesity is
demarcated as body mass index (BMI) which is greater than 30 kg/m2 and its prevalence rate
amid the youth in the US, 2017 is 14.8%. The obesity cost of US in 2013 was $ 342.2
billion. Therefore, in 2017 the rate of obesity among the youth was 18.2%, 16.4% in Los
Angeles and 13.5% in New York (CDC, 2018). The use of methamphetamine has been seen
to propagate among the youth especially the college students. An estimate of 85% - 90% of
the deaths in 2015 was as a result of stimulant drugs which involved the use of
methamphetamine, and an aggregate of 5,716 people died due to stimulant overdose.
Research indicates that they are other addition factors that have impact on the relationship
between methamphetamine use and BMI. Therefore, there is affiliation amid
methamphetamine use and sexual orientation. On that note, a higher proportion of
methamphetamine use was reported amid the bisexual men (21.8%) and gay (44.5%) in
contrast to the heterosexual men (7.7%). This is a valid prove that the affiliation amid the use
of methamphetamine vary due to sexual orientation.
On the other hand, Chicago has the highest population rate of people that suffer due to
methamphetamine use and obesity in comparison to other major cities in the US (Gonzales,
Mooney & Rawson, 2010). Therefore, the price of methamphetamine use amid the youth in
2017 Chicago was 4.7% which is higher compared to Los Angeles 2.7%, Miami-Dade county
4.2%, San -Francisco 3.5% and nearly doubled the national rate which is 2.5% (CDC, 2018).
The essential purpose of the research is to establish whether there is an affiliation between
methamphetamine use and BMI, and vice versa. In addition, the research aims to scrutinise

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whether sexual orientation regulates the association amid the use of methamphetamine and
BMI. The study proposal would use data retrieved from the Youth Risk Behavioral
Surveillance System (YRBS) in Chicago. Methamphetamine use and BMI will be considered
as both dependent and independent variables with the sexual orientation as a moderating
variable.
The nature of the study will utilise secondary data to understand the affiliation amid
methamphetamine use and BMI by sexual orientation. The focused population will be
Chicago youth and the data to be employed will have been collected from (YRBS) between
2007-2017. Additionally, the research conducted between 2009 -2019 was extracted to
determine the prevalence, increase rates and the pattern of substance youth amid the youth in
Chicago and also to establish affiliations and the confounding factors of the association
(Gearhardt et al., 2018).
The most efficient model for this study research is a Social Cognitive Theory (SCT) which
elaborates the behaviour that is associated with drug use and obesity among the youth. This
concept can further be illustrated by the use of environmental factors despite not being used
during the study.
The research conducted illustrates that both drug addiction and obesity are affiliated in
away thus results in the brain's reward system dysfunction. Therefore, the impact of obesity
amid the youth was linked to the use of the lower illicit drugs in early adulthood. On that
note, there is an intricate association amid methamphetamine use and obesity, but it’s still
note viable if obesity results in the abuse methamphetamine or vice versa.

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References
CDC. (2018). Compare District and National Results. YRBSS Fact Sheets and Comparison
of State/District and National Results. YRBSS Results. Adolescent and School Health.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved from
https://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/data/yrbs/results.htm
Gearhardt, A. N., Waller, R., Jester, J. M., Hyde, L. W., & Zucker, R. A. (2018). Body mass
index across adolescence and substance use problems in early adulthood. Psychology of
addictive behaviors: journal of the Society of Psychologists in Addictive Behaviors, 32
(3): 309-319. doi: 10.1037/adb0000365.
Gonzales, R., Mooney, L., & Rawson, R. A. (2010). The methamphetamine problem in the
United States. Annual review of public health, 31 385-98. doi:
10.1146/annurev.publhealth.012809.103600
NIDA. (2018). Methamphetamine. Drugs Facts. National Institute on Drug Abuse. U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from
https://www.drugabuse.gov/publications/drugfacts/methamphetamine

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