Smoking among youths in China

Objectives. To inform a prevention strategy, this study determined the prev alence of and attitudes toward smoking among Chinese secondary school stude nts. Methods. Self-completion questionnaires were administered to 13- to 18-year -olds attending school in Zhejiang Province, eastern China. Results. Of the 6674 respondents, 15.9% (25.7% of the boys, 5.4% of the gir ls) were ever smokers. Only 0.3% were regular smokers. Of the ever smokers, 41.9% had smoked before 10 years of age and 7.9% before 5 years of age. Pa rental smoking was the strongest predictor of smoking. Conclusions. The very low prevalence of regular smoking found in this age g roup suggests that prevention programs in school may be beneficial. Parents should be encouraged to adopt more responsible attitudes toward smoking in the home.