Cannabis use is not associated with altered levels of physical activity: evidence from the repeated cross-sectional Belgian Health Interview Survey.

Background: Several studies have suggested a positive effect of occasional cannabis consumption on the frequency of leisure-time physical activity, possibly due to more motivation before, more enjoyment during, and better recovery after engaging in leisure-time physical exercise. While such an effect would contradict the stereotypical image of lower physical activity levels in cannabis users as compared to non-users, evidence has been mixed at best. The current study investigated this proposed association in a representative sample of the Belgian population.

Methods: Data from four waves of the Belgian Health Interview Survey (HIS; repeated cross-sectional survey; 2001 - 2018) were used in a regression and propensity matching analysis to examine the association between past-month cannabis use and physical activity levels, while controlling for potentially confounding variables. A total of n = 19,936 individuals (48.9% female) aged 15-64 years were included in the analysis. We modelled physical activity in function of past-month cannabis use while adjusting for potential confounders.

Results: Both the regression analysis and the propensity-matching analysis revealed no evidence in favor of a positive effect of past-month cannabis use on physical activity level (estimated OR = 0.97, 95% CI = [0.74, 1.28] and estimated RR = 0.90, 95% CI = [0.70; 1.16] respectively). Descriptive analyses of baseline characteristics suggested some clear differences between users and non-users that were in line with previous studies.

Conclusions: There was no evidence suggesting that past-month cannabis users have better or worse physical activity levels compared to non-users in the Belgian population aged 15-64 years.