The prevalence of cigarette smoking among school pupils staying at summer camps

SETTING: The prevalence of cigarette smoking in Poland is one of the highes t in Europe. OBJECTIVE: To compare the frequency of smoking among Polish pupils during a school year and the summer holidays. DESIGN: A questionnaire including personal and demographic data and informa tion on smoking behaviour was distributed among 598 school pupils: 357 girl s and 241 boys aged 8-19 years, with a mean age of 14.4. RESULTS: Among the entire group of school pupils, 18.6% were cigarette smok ers. Half of the smokers smoked occasionally and the remainder smoked every day; of these, 9.9% smoked more than 10 cigarettes daily. The frequency of smoking among these teenagers increased with age. The average age of smoki ng initiation was 13 years for boys and 15 years for girls. The majority sm oked more during the summer holidays than during the school year. The most frequently reported reasons for increasing cigarette smoking during the sum mer holidays were: feeling more free, having more money to spend, the influ ence of new friends, and smoking to pass the time when they felt bored. CONCLUSION: Young people in this study still started smoking early, most fr equently between the ages of 13 and 15. High rates of daily smokers among t eenagers were observed. In some groups of teenagers the summer holidays may be a time of increased cigarette smoking.