The relationship between adolescents’ perceived body image, weight control efforts, and experiences with the use of drugs including narcotics

Objectives: This study was conducted to analyze the relationship between perceived body image, weight control efforts, and experiences with the use of drugs including narcotics among male and female adolescents and provide basic policy data for preventing adolescent drug use/abuse. Methods: This study included 54,648 middle and high school students who participated in the 20th (2024) Youth Health Behavior Survey. A logistic regression analysis was conducted regarding adolescents’ experiences with drug use including narcotics as dependent variables and perceived body image and weight control efforts as independent variables. Results: Perceptions about body type and weight control efforts, which were independent variables, influenced adolescents’ drug use experiences. Conclusion: To prevent the use of drugs for weight control purposes, the current educational environment in our country could be adjusted to take into account an increase in physical activity. Another suggestion is to include steroid misuse education in the “Drug Abuse and Narcotics Prevention Education Guidebook” currently provided to students by the Ministry of Education.