Abstract
The aim of this study was to investigate experimentation with smoking among primary school students in China. Data were acquired from a recent survey of 4,073 students in grades 4 to 6 (ages 9–12) in 11 primary schools of Ningbo City. The questions were adapted from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS). Results suggest that although the Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) encourages smoke-free schools, experimentation with cigarettes remains a serious problem among primary school students in China. Peers, family members, and the school environment play important roles in influencing smoking experimentation among students. Having a friend who smoked, seeing a family member smoke, and observing a teacher smoking on campus predicted a higher risk of experimentation with smoking; the exposure to anti-tobacco materials at school predicted a lower risk of experimentation with smoking. The evidence suggests that public health practitioners and policymakers should seek to ensure the implementation of smoke-free policies and that intervention should target young people, families, and communities to curb the commencement of smoking among children and adolescents in China.
Highlights
Youth smoking remains a serious public health problem despite the recent decline in some countries, including the US, where substantial resources have been devoted to curb the pandemic [1,2,3]
A study conducted in 2007 on passive smoking and its risk factors among 25,600 adolescents in 32 regions of China showed that 6.3% currently smoked, 23.1% had experimented with smoking, and 57.5% had been exposed to secondhand smoke [8]
We examined how smoking experimentation among elementary school students was associated with tobacco-related knowledge and attitudes, smoking behaviors of their parents, peers, and teachers as well as smoking policies and programs of the schools they attended
Summary
Youth smoking remains a serious public health problem despite the recent decline in some countries, including the US, where substantial resources have been devoted to curb the pandemic [1,2,3]. The Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), a school-based survey of students aged 13–15 conducted in 131 countries between 1999 and 2005, showed that 8.9% of students currently smoked; and one in five nonsmoking students reported that they were likely to smoke by the following year [4]. Smoking prevalence among men aged 15–19 increased from about 18% in 1996 to 21% in 2002 despite a decrease in smoking prevalence in the general Chinese population by 1.8% during the same period [6]. A study conducted in 2007 on passive smoking and its risk factors among 25,600 adolescents in 32 regions of China showed that 6.3% currently smoked, 23.1% had experimented with smoking, and 57.5% had been exposed to secondhand smoke [8]. Starting to smoke before the age of 15 doubles one’s risk of developing lung cancer compared to starting to smoke at the age of 20 [12,13]
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