HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response View Shopping Cart Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Hesketh, T. Articles by Tomkins, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Hesketh, T. Articles by Tomkins, A.

Therese Hesketh, MRCPCH, Mfphm, MPH, Qu Jian Ding, MD and Andrew Tomkins, FRCP

Therese Hesketh and Andrew Tomkins are with the Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, England. Qu Jian Ding is with the Institute for Population Studies, Zhejiang Medical University, Hangzhou, People's Republic of China.

Correspondence: Requests for reprints should be sent to Therese Hesketh, MRCPCH, MFPHM, MPH, ICH-China Reproductive Health Project, 51A Narada Gardens, Wen Yi Rd, Hangzhou 310012, People's Republic of China (e-mail:hesketh{at}mail.hz.zj.cn).

Objectives. To inform a prevention strategy, this study determined the prevalence of and attitudes toward smoking among Chinese secondary school students.

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 girls) 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. Parental smoking was the strongest predictor of smoking.

Conclusions. The very low prevalence of regular smoking found in this age group suggests that prevention programs in school may be beneficial. Parents should be encouraged to adopt more responsible attitudes toward smoking in the home.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				Z. Pan and D. Hu Hierarchical linear modelling of smoking prevalence and frequency in China between 1991 and 2004 Health Policy Plan., March 1, 2008; 23(2): 118 - 124. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C P Wen, S P Tsai, T Y Cheng, C C Hsu, T Chen, and H S Lin Role of parents and peers in influencing the smoking status of high school students in Taiwan Tob. Control, June 1, 2005; 14(suppl_1): i10 - i15. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				L.K. Lee, C.Y.C. Paul, C.W. Kam, and K. Jagmohni Smoking among Secondary School Students in Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia Asia Pac J Public Health, January 1, 2005; 17(2): 130 - 136. [Abstract] [PDF]

				G. Yang, J. Ma, A. P. Chen, S. Brown, C. E Taylor, and J. M Samet Smoking among adolescents in China: 1998 survey findings Int. J. Epidemiol., October 1, 2004; 33(5): 1103 - 1110. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				Z. Pan Socioeconomic predictors of smoking and smoking frequency in urban China: evidence of smoking as a social function Health Promot. Int., September 1, 2004; 19(3): 309 - 315. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. Hesketh Getting married in China: pass the medical first BMJ, February 1, 2003; 326(7383): 277 - 279. [Full Text] [PDF]