ABSTRACT

This chapter begins by identfying the prevalence of smoking, alcohol and substance use disorders, along with other addictions, and the implications for health and society. We then briefly identify the scope and extent of evidence for the effectiveness of current treatment options and make a case for a need to broadly consider physical activity as a further standalone or adjunctive option in treatment and also for prevention and harm reduction. We then turn to summarising the evidence (and quality/risk of bias) of the chronic and acute effects of physical activity on the following addictive behaviors: (1) smoking and nicotine consumption, (2) alcohol use disorder, (3) other substance use disorders, (4) food snacking and other addictions. Finally, we consider the possible mechanisms for how PA impacts on addictions, drawing on human and animal studies, identify future research questions and discuss the practical implications within the contexts of prevention, harm reduction, treatment and relapse prevention.