Cigarette smoking among junior high school students in Beijing, China, 1988.
Prevalence, behavioural patterns and risk factors of cigarette smoking were studied in a sample of 8437 junior high school students in Beijing in 1988. Smoking at least occasionally was reported by 34.4% of boys and 3.9% of girls, though the intensity tended to be low. Smoking prevalence increased with age among boys. Inhaling smoke into the lungs was practised by 68.2% of the boys who smoked and 37.3% of the girls. 'Believing that one looks elegant when smoking', 'trying to be fashionable' and 'seeking stimulation' were the most important reasons for smoking. Of the boys 83.5% and of the girls 86.5% usually smoked with friends or schoolmates. Many more boys (19.2%) than girls (1.7%) smoked at home. Examinations of risk factors for teenage smoking showed that it was associated with a combination of familial, psychological and socio-school factors, with peer group pressure being the most important one.
Zhu
B P
BP
Department of Epidemiology, Peking Union Medical College, People's Republic of China.
Liu
M
M
Wang
S Q
SQ
He
G Q
GQ
Chen
D H
DH
Shi
J H
JH
Shang
J Z
JZ
D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*