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, new data from a population-based study showed.
Children and teens with anxiety or mood disorders had twice the risk for frequent headaches, defined as occurring once or more per week, and those who regularly ate breakfast and dinners with their family had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who did not eat regular meals.
“It is not uncommon for children and teens to have headaches, and while medications are used to stop and sometimes prevent headaches, lifestyle changes also may offer an effective route to relief by preventing headaches from happening and improving quality of life,” study investigator Serena L. Orr, MD, MSc, University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, said in a press release.
The findings were published online in Neurology.
Negative Consequences
Previous research shows frequent recurrent headaches occur in up to 30% of children and adolescents and can lead to lower academic achievement and lower quality of life.
Treatment recommendations often focus on adjusting lifestyle behaviors, such as sleep and meal timing or smoking.
To further investigate these links, researchers used data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth and included about 5 million children and teens aged 5-17 years. In most cases, a parent or guardian answered the survey questions.
In addition to assessing participants for headache frequency in the past week, the survey included questions about how often they had breakfast, were physically active, or spent playing video games or with a mobile device, for instance. Parents/guardians were also asked whether the youth had ever been diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder.
For participants aged between 12 and 17 years, there were also questions about smoking, alcohol consumption, and substance use.
The mean age of participants was 11 years, and 48% were female. About 6% of the participants had frequent recurrent headaches.
Investigators found that meal regularity was inversely associated with frequent headaches (P < .001). In an adjusted model, youth who often ate breakfast and dinner with their families had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who didn’t dine with their families regularly.
“It is possible regular family meals may lead to greater connectedness and communication within the family and better mental health outcomes, which in turn may impact headache frequency,” Dr. Orr noted.
Youth who spent more than 21 hours per week in front of computer screens or with video games had higher odds for frequent headaches (P < .001), but this association did not survive statistical adjustment for demographics or lifestyle factors.
Both mood and anxiety disorders were associated with twice the risk for frequent headaches, and this risk survived adjustment for age, sex, household income, and other lifestyle factors.
In adolescents aged 12-17 years, there was an association between drinking alcohol and frequent headache, with higher alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of frequent headache. For instance, those who drank once or more per week had three times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001), and those who indulged in binge drinking at least five times per month had five times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001).
Smoking cannabis was also associated with frequent headache in a dose-dependent manner. Daily users had a threefold increased risk for frequent headache vs those who didn’t use cannabis (P < .001).
Similarly, those who smoked or used e-cigarettes daily also had a threefold increased risk for frequent headaches versus nonusers.
One of the study’s limitations was that it didn’t include participants living in foster homes, institutions or on First Nation reserves. Investigators also were not able to determine headache type and did not assess hydration, which can be an important lifestyle factor in headache etiology.
Prioritize Questions About Lifestyle?
In an accompanying editorial, Irene Patniyot, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, noted that lifestyle advice is an important part of managing headache disorders in children and youth and questioned whether neurologists should prioritize discussions about lifestyle habits in this patient population. However, she noted, given the heavy demands on neurologists’ time, this may be “idealistic.”
One potential solution may lie in automating electronic questionnaires for inclusion in patients’ medical records. “Data extraction from electronic questionnaires has already led to new data on symptoms associated with headache in youth and can potentially lead to earlier identification and treatment of mental health disorders and lifestyle habits that negatively affect headache burden and overall well-being,” Dr. Patniyot wrote.
The study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Statistics Canada. Dr. Orr reported receiving royalties from Cambridge University Press; serving on the editorial boards of Headache, Neurology, and the American Migraine Foundation; and receiving research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Other disclosures were noted in the original article.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
, new data from a population-based study showed.
Children and teens with anxiety or mood disorders had twice the risk for frequent headaches, defined as occurring once or more per week, and those who regularly ate breakfast and dinners with their family had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who did not eat regular meals.
“It is not uncommon for children and teens to have headaches, and while medications are used to stop and sometimes prevent headaches, lifestyle changes also may offer an effective route to relief by preventing headaches from happening and improving quality of life,” study investigator Serena L. Orr, MD, MSc, University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, said in a press release.
The findings were published online in Neurology.
Negative Consequences
Previous research shows frequent recurrent headaches occur in up to 30% of children and adolescents and can lead to lower academic achievement and lower quality of life.
Treatment recommendations often focus on adjusting lifestyle behaviors, such as sleep and meal timing or smoking.
To further investigate these links, researchers used data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth and included about 5 million children and teens aged 5-17 years. In most cases, a parent or guardian answered the survey questions.
In addition to assessing participants for headache frequency in the past week, the survey included questions about how often they had breakfast, were physically active, or spent playing video games or with a mobile device, for instance. Parents/guardians were also asked whether the youth had ever been diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder.
For participants aged between 12 and 17 years, there were also questions about smoking, alcohol consumption, and substance use.
The mean age of participants was 11 years, and 48% were female. About 6% of the participants had frequent recurrent headaches.
Investigators found that meal regularity was inversely associated with frequent headaches (P < .001). In an adjusted model, youth who often ate breakfast and dinner with their families had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who didn’t dine with their families regularly.
“It is possible regular family meals may lead to greater connectedness and communication within the family and better mental health outcomes, which in turn may impact headache frequency,” Dr. Orr noted.
Youth who spent more than 21 hours per week in front of computer screens or with video games had higher odds for frequent headaches (P < .001), but this association did not survive statistical adjustment for demographics or lifestyle factors.
Both mood and anxiety disorders were associated with twice the risk for frequent headaches, and this risk survived adjustment for age, sex, household income, and other lifestyle factors.
In adolescents aged 12-17 years, there was an association between drinking alcohol and frequent headache, with higher alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of frequent headache. For instance, those who drank once or more per week had three times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001), and those who indulged in binge drinking at least five times per month had five times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001).
Smoking cannabis was also associated with frequent headache in a dose-dependent manner. Daily users had a threefold increased risk for frequent headache vs those who didn’t use cannabis (P < .001).
Similarly, those who smoked or used e-cigarettes daily also had a threefold increased risk for frequent headaches versus nonusers.
One of the study’s limitations was that it didn’t include participants living in foster homes, institutions or on First Nation reserves. Investigators also were not able to determine headache type and did not assess hydration, which can be an important lifestyle factor in headache etiology.
Prioritize Questions About Lifestyle?
In an accompanying editorial, Irene Patniyot, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, noted that lifestyle advice is an important part of managing headache disorders in children and youth and questioned whether neurologists should prioritize discussions about lifestyle habits in this patient population. However, she noted, given the heavy demands on neurologists’ time, this may be “idealistic.”
One potential solution may lie in automating electronic questionnaires for inclusion in patients’ medical records. “Data extraction from electronic questionnaires has already led to new data on symptoms associated with headache in youth and can potentially lead to earlier identification and treatment of mental health disorders and lifestyle habits that negatively affect headache burden and overall well-being,” Dr. Patniyot wrote.
The study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Statistics Canada. Dr. Orr reported receiving royalties from Cambridge University Press; serving on the editorial boards of Headache, Neurology, and the American Migraine Foundation; and receiving research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Other disclosures were noted in the original article.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
, new data from a population-based study showed.
Children and teens with anxiety or mood disorders had twice the risk for frequent headaches, defined as occurring once or more per week, and those who regularly ate breakfast and dinners with their family had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who did not eat regular meals.
“It is not uncommon for children and teens to have headaches, and while medications are used to stop and sometimes prevent headaches, lifestyle changes also may offer an effective route to relief by preventing headaches from happening and improving quality of life,” study investigator Serena L. Orr, MD, MSc, University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada, said in a press release.
The findings were published online in Neurology.
Negative Consequences
Previous research shows frequent recurrent headaches occur in up to 30% of children and adolescents and can lead to lower academic achievement and lower quality of life.
Treatment recommendations often focus on adjusting lifestyle behaviors, such as sleep and meal timing or smoking.
To further investigate these links, researchers used data from the 2019 Canadian Health Survey on Children and Youth and included about 5 million children and teens aged 5-17 years. In most cases, a parent or guardian answered the survey questions.
In addition to assessing participants for headache frequency in the past week, the survey included questions about how often they had breakfast, were physically active, or spent playing video games or with a mobile device, for instance. Parents/guardians were also asked whether the youth had ever been diagnosed with a mood or anxiety disorder.
For participants aged between 12 and 17 years, there were also questions about smoking, alcohol consumption, and substance use.
The mean age of participants was 11 years, and 48% were female. About 6% of the participants had frequent recurrent headaches.
Investigators found that meal regularity was inversely associated with frequent headaches (P < .001). In an adjusted model, youth who often ate breakfast and dinner with their families had an 8% lower risk for frequent headaches than those who didn’t dine with their families regularly.
“It is possible regular family meals may lead to greater connectedness and communication within the family and better mental health outcomes, which in turn may impact headache frequency,” Dr. Orr noted.
Youth who spent more than 21 hours per week in front of computer screens or with video games had higher odds for frequent headaches (P < .001), but this association did not survive statistical adjustment for demographics or lifestyle factors.
Both mood and anxiety disorders were associated with twice the risk for frequent headaches, and this risk survived adjustment for age, sex, household income, and other lifestyle factors.
In adolescents aged 12-17 years, there was an association between drinking alcohol and frequent headache, with higher alcohol consumption increasing the likelihood of frequent headache. For instance, those who drank once or more per week had three times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001), and those who indulged in binge drinking at least five times per month had five times the risk for frequent headache (P < .001).
Smoking cannabis was also associated with frequent headache in a dose-dependent manner. Daily users had a threefold increased risk for frequent headache vs those who didn’t use cannabis (P < .001).
Similarly, those who smoked or used e-cigarettes daily also had a threefold increased risk for frequent headaches versus nonusers.
One of the study’s limitations was that it didn’t include participants living in foster homes, institutions or on First Nation reserves. Investigators also were not able to determine headache type and did not assess hydration, which can be an important lifestyle factor in headache etiology.
Prioritize Questions About Lifestyle?
In an accompanying editorial, Irene Patniyot, MD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, noted that lifestyle advice is an important part of managing headache disorders in children and youth and questioned whether neurologists should prioritize discussions about lifestyle habits in this patient population. However, she noted, given the heavy demands on neurologists’ time, this may be “idealistic.”
One potential solution may lie in automating electronic questionnaires for inclusion in patients’ medical records. “Data extraction from electronic questionnaires has already led to new data on symptoms associated with headache in youth and can potentially lead to earlier identification and treatment of mental health disorders and lifestyle habits that negatively affect headache burden and overall well-being,” Dr. Patniyot wrote.
The study was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Canada Foundation for Innovation, and Statistics Canada. Dr. Orr reported receiving royalties from Cambridge University Press; serving on the editorial boards of Headache, Neurology, and the American Migraine Foundation; and receiving research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Research Institute. Other disclosures were noted in the original article.
A version of this article appeared on Medscape.com.
FROM NEUROLOGY