Factors associated with commencing smoking in 12-year-old students in Catalonia (Spain): a cross-sectional population-based study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

Over the last decade notable progress has been made in developed countries on monitoring smoking although experimenting with cigarettes and smoking in young people remains a serious public health problem. This paper reports a cross-sectional study at the beginning of the 3-year follow-up community study TA_BES. The aim was to study the prevalence of smoking in addition to determining predictive factors for when smoking commences in a representative population of 12-year-old first year compulsory secondary education students.

Methods

Twenty-nine secondary schools (N = 29) from an area of Catalonia participated in the study. In these schools 2245 students answered a questionnaire to study the attitudes, behaviors, and tobacco consumption in the subject's surrounding

SUBMITTER: Valdivieso E 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3091575 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature