Cigarette Smoking and its risk factors among senior high school students in Beijing, China, 1988

Abstract

Correspondence to : Bao Ping Zhu, Battelle Memorial Institute, c/o Office on Smoking and Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Mail Stop K-50, 1600 Clifton Road NE, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA. Abstract Objective -To study the prevalence and behavioural patterns of, and risk factors for, cigarette smoking among senior high school students in Beijing, China. Design-A sample of 3823 senior high school students (primarily ages 16-19 years) in 78 classes were selected from 30 schools in Beijing in 1988, utilising a multi-stage stratified cluster sampling scheme. Setting Students in a selected class met in a classroom to fill out a self administered anonymous questionnaire, under the supervision of trained inter viewers. Results Smoking at least occasionally was reported by 46.0% of the males and 5.5% of the females, although daily ciga rette consumption was low. Smoking prevalence increased with age among males. About 2% of the ever-smokers reported trying their first cigarette be fore the age of five years. The most frequently cited reasons for initiation were elegance, curiosity, and imi tation. The most important reasons for frequent smoking were elegance, fashion, dispelling melancholy, and seeking stimulation. Inhaling was practised by 40.2 % of the male and 13.8 % of the female daily or weekly smokers. Eighty-six percent of the males and 69 % of the females usually smoked with friends or schoolmates. While 16.6% of the males often smoked at home, no females did so. Smoking was related to a combination of psychological, familial, and socio-school factors, with peer press ure being the strongest influence. Conclusions Risk factors for smoking among Chinese students are similar to those of industrialised countries. Efforts to monitor prevalence and risk factors of smoking among Chinese adolescents are recommended.