Alcohol consumption or cigarette smoking and cardiovascular disease risk in youth with type 1 diabetes

Aim To assess the association between alcohol consumption and/or cigarette smoking with other unhealthy behaviors and clinical cardiovascular risk factors in youth with type 1 diabetes. Methods Two hundred and twenty-eight youth with type 1 diabetes (age 13–19 years) were consecutively enrolled in three Regional Pediatric Diabetes Centers in Italy. Demographic, anthropometric, lifestyle (adherence to the Mediterranean diet pattern and sports participation) and laboratory parameters were compared among youth reporting isolated or combined alcohol consumption and/or cigarette smoking. Results Ten percent of the youth reported alcohol consumption, 10% cigarette smoking and 6% both alcohol and cigarette use; 74% did not report alcohol or cigarette use. Compared to non-drinker non-smoker youth, smokers showed significantly higher percentages of each of the behavioral and clinical cardiovascular risk factors. Drinkers showed a significantly higher proportion of abdominal adiposity, dyslipidemia and poor adherence to the Mediterranean diet. Alcohol consumption was independently associated with both dyslipidemia and high glycosylated hemoglobin. Conclusions Our findings emphasize the need to increase the awareness of youth with T1D about the negative impact of alcohol drinking on cardiovascular risk, since the effects of alcohol might be underestimated with respect to the well-known detrimental effects of smoking. Clustering of unhealthy lifestyle should be discouraged in type 1 diabetes youth in order to promote cardiovascular protection.