SMOKING AND SCHOOLCHILDREN - CONTEXT, OPI NIONS AND BEHAVIOR

BACKGROUND: This paper studies smoking epidemiology in school-age stud ents. MATERIAL AND METHODS: A cross-sectional survey of 8th grade stud ents (13-14 years-old) in the schools of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) in 1987, 1992 and 1994, RESULTS: The perception of smoking in the stud ents environment has decreased. The proportion of regular smokers decr eases, from 12.6% in 1987 to 9.5% in 1994 (p < 0,05) tan annual decrea se of 3.5%) although the proportion who experiment with tobacco remain s table. CONCLUSIONS: There is a decrease in the prevalence of regular smoking in the school-age population (13-14 years-old) in Barcelona ( Spain).