Prevalence and Risk Factors for Initiation of Smoking in Greek High-School Students

Lazaros T. Sichletidis, Diamantis A. Chloros, Anastasios I. Tsiotsios and Dionisios G. Spyratos
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Lazaros T. Sichletidis: Laboratory for the Investigation of Environmental Diseases, Pulmonary Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Diamantis A. Chloros: Laboratory for the Investigation of Environmental Diseases, Pulmonary Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Anastasios I. Tsiotsios: Laboratory for the Investigation of Environmental Diseases, Pulmonary Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece
Dionisios G. Spyratos: Laboratory for the Investigation of Environmental Diseases, Pulmonary Clinic, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece

IJERPH, 2009, vol. 6, issue 3, 1-9

Abstract: The smoking habits of 9,276 high-school students (15-18 years old) in six cities of Northern Greece were studied using a questionnaire in order to determine the prevalence and possible risk factors for initiation of smoking. We observed that 29.6% of high-school students (32.6% of boys and 26.7% of girls) were current smokers. A percentage of 43.3% had started smoking before the age of 14. Reactive behaviour towards parents’ and teachers’ advice (40.2%) and the existence of smoking friends (40.1%) were the main reasons of initiation. A well-planned integrated anti-smoking campaign is urgently required, especially among students and teachers.

Keywords: Adolescence; epidemiology; Greece; high-school students; smoking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2009
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