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Running head: SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE

SCHOOL STUDENTS

Research, Review and Reflection of:

Substance Use and Dietary Practices Among Students Attending Alternative High
Schools: Results From a Pilot Study
Jenna Goldstrom
Front Range Community College/Polaris High School
PSY101-640
Spring 2013

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SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL STUDENTS
Abstract
This particular research article was to be examined and made opinions on,
by me, for my Psychology 101 class. I was to analyze an article and report back what I
found in true A.P.A. style, but also as honestly as I could. The article was on a study
provided about the substance use and dietary habits of students attending alternative
schools. I chose it mostly because I am student who attends an alternative high school
who is also highly interested by the nature of substance use.

Research, Review and Reflection of:

Substance Use and Dietary Practices Among Students Attending Alternative High
Schools: Results From a Pilot Study

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SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL STUDENTS
Introduction
The study Substance Use and Dietary Practices Among Students Attending
Alternative High Schools: Results From a Pilot Study tries to identify the relationships
between certain dietary habits/practices, along with a variety of different so-called risky
behaviors, i.e. smoking cigarettes and marijuana, drinking alcohol, etc. It was conducted
at the University of Minnesota, by Arcan et al. 145 participants from 6 different
alternative high schools in the St Paul/ Minneapolis area were tested by using baseline
data prepared by COOL (Controlling Overweight and Obesity for Life). The overall
purpose of this research article was to address and potentially prove the already suspected
preconceptions of teenagers going to alternative high schools and their partaking in risky
behaviors. As its well accepted that teenagers indulge in illegal substances, risky
behavior, and poor dietary habits, the issue is that it is generally believed that the youth of
the nation care little for their physical well being, and thus it is important to know in what
ways do these things influence each other, and why, especially at alternative high schools,
where drop out rates are higher than that of traditional high school, the concern is genuine
(Arcan et al, 2011). The goals of this study were to look at the amount of substance abuse
occurring to this particular group of adolescents, find out correlations (as such were
stated previously), and find out what combinations of variables influenced these
correlations, and in what ways. (Arcan et al, 2011.) While the data for this study
was initially gathered by COOL, this group of separate researchers from the University of
Minnesota reviewed and interpreted this data for this new research.

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SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL STUDENTS
Methods
A cross-sectional design, by which the gathering of baseline data was made
possible, were the methods used to conduct this study (Arcan et al, 2011). In order to use
diversity to the advantage of truthful data-collecting, there were both urban and suburban
alternative high school students partaking. The average age of students was 17 years old,
the range being from 14 to 19 years old. The study was conducted in the fall of 2006.
Using a 76-item survey and taking the measurements of students was by how the data
was collected, taking about 30 or forty minutes (Arcan et al, 2011).
Results
For the numerous different correlations that were examined, there were equally
numerous results. Initially, daily cigarette smoking was discovered in 36% of students,
marijuana smoking in 13%, and alcohol in 3%. There was no difference between the
genders for the percentages in those categories (Arcan et al, 2011). The other findings
were that 79% of students did at least one of the previously mentioned substances in their
lifetimes, and that 33% had used all three in the last year (Arcan et al, 2011). The final
research concluded that cigarette smoking and the ingestion of regular soda and fast food
eating and restaurant attending were positively correlated, as well as those between
alcohol and marijuana use and their respective relationships to a high fat-food dietary
content (Arcan et al, 2011). Basically, the partaking in these substances increased the
ingestion of regular soda, fast food intake, and fast food restaurant attendance. On the
other hand, there were no correlations found between multi-substance use and the
consummation of fruits and vegetables. However, drinking sugary and sports drinks alike

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SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL STUDENTS
were found to have a negative correlation to the amounts of fruits and vegetables having
been taken in (Arcan et al, 2011). Students who did not use substances showed more
healthful diets by eating more fruits and vegetables, and drinking less sports and fruity
drinks as well as fast and fatty foods (Arcan et al, 2011).
Review
After getting through the dry reading this article had to offer, I found this article
very hard to put a handle on. What with so many variables, it was hard to really see
where the hypothesis and the final results related, and is they were true to each other or
not. I personally thought that the researchers were bias, although trying really hard to
maintain a fair-minded appearance of sorts, which is dishonorable in my opinion. But I
digress, it was done in a simple, efficient, and pretty effective manor that accurately
gathered the results from the questionnaire. I am curious though, because this is a subject
that is important to me personally, if by conducting this research, someone, somewhere,
was trying to prove or make a point, either for or against, the use of substances in relation
alternative school students.

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SUBSTANCE USE & DIETARY HABITS OF ALTERNATIVE SCHOOL STUDENTS
References
Arcane, C., Kubik, M. Y., Fulkerson, J. A., Hannan, P. J., & Story, M. (2011). Substance
use and dietary practices among students attending alternative high schools:
results from a pilot study. BMC Public Health, 263(11), 263. doi:10.1186/14712458-11-263