Relationship of personal tobacco-raising, parental smoking, and other factors to tobacco use among adolescents living in a tobacco-producing region.
This study examined factors related to tobacco use among youth from tobacco-raising (TRH) and nonraising households (NRH). The subjects were 3,851 seventh-grade students from 19 middle schools located in a tobacco-raising region. Valid self-reports of tobacco use were encouraged by the use of a test for carbon monoxide in expired air. Cigarette use was higher when (a) at least one parent smoked, and/or (b) the student personally raised tobacco. A boy who personally raised tobacco and had at least one parent who smoked was 10.2 times more likely to have smoked in the last 7 days than a boy from a nonraising household in which neither parent smoked. For girls, the odds ratio was 5.6:1. Tobacco use among students in this high-risk group was higher than rates reported in national or regional studies. Other results were: (1) use began very early--16% of the students had tried cigarettes and 13% of the boys had tried smokeless tobacco (SLT) in Grade 3 or earlier; and (2) users reported more lenient rules at home regarding tobacco use than did nonusers. Years from now, these high-risk students are likely to be major contributors to increased morbidity and mortality due to tobacco use. Implications for tobacco prevention in tobacco-raising areas are discussed.
Noland
M P
MP
Department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40506-0219, USA.
Kryscio
R J
RJ
Hinkle
J
J
Riggs
R S
RS
Linville
L H
LH
Ford
V Y
VY
Tucker
T C
TC
D000293:Adolescent; D000383:Agriculture; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D003625:Data Collection; D005190:Family; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007629:Kentucky; D008297:Male; D010947:Plants, Toxic; D012307:Risk Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D014030:Tobacco, Smokeless