Parental migration and smoking behavior of left-behind children: evidence from a survey in rural Anhui, China.

Tingting Yang,Alexis Medina,Scott Rozelle,Cuicui Li,Chengchao Zhou,Shan Jiang,Jie Chu

doi:10.1186/s12939-016-0416-7

Abstract

BackgroundParental migration is most an important factor affecting children’s behaviors. Few studies have addressed the association between parental migration and children’s smoking behavior in China. This study aims to estimate the current smoking prevalence among children, evaluate the association of parental migration and the smoking behavior of children and identify factors associated with smoking behavior among left-behind children (LBC).MethodsA cross-sectional study was conducted in 6 cities in Anhui province during July and August, 2012. All participants were interviewed face-to-face using a standardized questionnaire. Only children 10 to 14 years old that live in rural villages for at least 6 months during the previous year were included in the study.ResultsA total of 1343 children met the sampling criteria and participated in the study. Of these, 56 % are LBC and 44 % live with both parents. The average rate of smoking is 3.4 %. The rate of smoking is statistically higher for LBC with both parents out (rate = 6.1 %; OR = 5.59, P < 0.001) than for children living with both parents (1.4 %). Similarly, the rate of LBC with father home only (rate = 5.0 %; OR = 5.60, P = 0.005) is also statistically higher than for children living with both parents when controlling other variables. Factors affecting the smoking behavior of LBC, include gender (i.e., boys), (perceived) school performance and primary caregiver.ConclusionsParental migration is associated with a significant increase in smoking behavior among children. Intervention studies that target LBC would help to develop strategies to reduce smoking among rural children. Gender-specific strategies and anti-smoking education also appears to be needed to reduce tobacco use among rural LBC.

Highlights

Parental migration is most an important factor affecting children’s behaviors
It is estimated that there are more than 4.4 million left-behind children (LBC) in Anhui, accounting for over 50 % of rural children in the province [17].In 2007, the prevalence of current smoking,among adults in Anhui province was 33.8 %, with a rate of 67.0 % among men and 2.6 % among women in the same province [22].A total of six cities were randomly selected to serve as the study cities after considering the gross domestic product (GDP) level and location of the cities, Fig. 1 shows the location of the six study sites
The sample is subdivided by parental migration status

Summary

Introduction

Few studies have addressed the association between parental migration and children’s smoking behavior in China. If the current trend continues, the annual death rate will rise to more than 8 million people per year. Eighty percent of these deaths are projected to occur in low- and middle-income countries by 2030 [1, 2]. Policy makers and health officials are increasingly concerned about the smoking behavior of adolescents and young adults, as these individuals are said to susceptible to initiating tobacco use [5,6,7,8].

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