Abstract
The smoking habits of 9,276 high-school students (15–18 years old) in six cities of Northern Greece were studied using a questionnaire in order to determine the prevalence and possible risk factors for initiation of smoking. We observed that 29.6% of high-school students (32.6% of boys and 26.7% of girls) were current smokers. A percentage of 43.3% had started smoking before the age of 14. Reactive behaviour towards parents’ and teachers’ advice (40.2%) and the existence of smoking friends (40.1%) were the main reasons of initiation. A well-planned integrated anti-smoking campaign is urgently required, especially among students and teachers.
Highlights
Most data on the prevalence and the trends of smoking habits have been provided by the USA and only over the last years relevant research has been initiated in other countries, mostly within the framework of the worldwide anti-smoking campaign being carried out under the auspices of the WHO
Public Health 2009, 2 data, one of which is the first position of Greece among European Union countries in lung neoplasms in young men (
Comparing the four cities with the higher socioeconomic status with the other two, we found that students’ smoking was much more prevalent among the former (31.8% against 19.2%, chi-squared test p
Summary
Most data on the prevalence and the trends of smoking habits have been provided by the USA and only over the last years relevant research has been initiated in other countries, mostly within the framework of the worldwide anti-smoking campaign being carried out under the auspices of the WHO. In Greece, the Ministry of Health and Welfare has recently implemented an anti-smoking campaign. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and risk factors for initiation of smoking among high-school students in six cities of Northern Greece. There are no recent epidemiological data on smoking habits concerning this age group in Greece and there is need for further epidemiological research. We hypothesized that high school students’ smoking status could predict future trends. The implementation of proper preventative interventions appears to be obligatory
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