Piercings

Piercings, Tattoos May Suggest Other Risky Behavior

Teenagers with body piercings, and especially those sporting tattoos, are more likely to experiment with alcohol, cigarettes and marijuana than teens without piercings or tattoos, a Health Canada survey suggests.

"Body piercing and tattooing are visual clues that a teen wants to be associated with the experimental, risk-taking community," the survey said.

The results showed that 40 percent of teens with tattoos were daily smokers and they were four times more likely to be daily marijuana smokers, according to a report in The Ottawa Citizen. They were also 24 percent more likely to agree that they sometimes "try things that are dangerous or forbidden just for the fun of it."

Teens with piercings were less likely to engage in risky behavior than their tattooed peers, but slightly more likely than teenagers with neither piercings nor tattoos.

-- Felicity Stone

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