Physical activity and smoking abstinence in young people

A reduction in the number of young smokers and an increase in physical activity levels among young people are currently public health priorities, because of the lifetime health risks of smoking and inactivity from a young age. The aims of this thesis were to investigate the effects of exercise on desire to smoke, withdrawal symptoms and mood in young people, and to investigate the promotion of physical activity and exercise in young people who smoke, using a variety of methodologies. Five studies were conducted to investigate these aims. There was some evidence to suggest that a short bout of moderate intensity exercise can be beneficial in young adults, but this was not the case in adolescents. Overall, both moderate and vigorous intensity exercise reduced the desire to smoke relative to control, however moderate intensity exercise provided the most benefit in terms of withdrawal symptoms and mood in young adults. With regard to physical activity promotion, the theory of planned behaviour appears to be a useful framework for explaining physical activity behaviour among young people who smoke, however an exercise consultation intervention to promote physical activity in this population did not prove feasible regarding participant recruitment. In addition, an evaluation of physical activity prompts designed for young people (including smokers) revealed that such prompts are likely to be most effective if they contain intrinsically motivating messages. With regard to issues surrounding physical activity and exercise behaviour, young smokers appear to constitute a distinct population, and may present their own unique challenges for the promotion of physical activity. The findings of this research have important public health implications for physical activity promotion with young smokers.