Prevalence and related risk factors on smoking among pupils in Shandong province

Abstract

To study the prevalence of smoking and its influential factors among pupils in Shandong. A multi-stage stratified-cluster random sampling method was used in the survey. 6050 students from 3 different cities of Shandong province were selected as the study population. A self-administered anonymous questionnaire was designed and the survey was conducted by trained investigators. The rate of attempting smoking among pupils under study in Shandong province was 6.0% while the current smoking rate was 1.2%. The average age of children who initiated smoking cigarette was 7.8±2.1 with 80.5% of them due to curiosity. 34.7% of them got the cigarettes from their families. In terms of the motivation of buying cigarettes, 74.3% of them claimed that the access to purchase was easy. Data from multivariate unconditional logistic regression analysis showed that the smoking behavior of pupils was influenced by their familial or surrounding environments. Tobacco control programs on pupils should be strengthened with more powerful control measures including health education.