Cigarette smoking attitudes and first use among third- through sixth-grade students: the Bogalusa Heart Study.
OBJECTIVE
This study examined cigarette smoking attitudes, peer and parental influence, and first use among children in southeastern Louisiana.


METHODS
Data from 933 children in grades 3 through 6 in the Bogalusa Heart Study (1993 through 1994) were analyzed.


RESULTS
Fifteen percent of the children had tried smoking. Of these, 40% first smoked with a family member, and 46% obtained their first cigarette from a family member or from home. Correlates of ever having smoked were race, sex, having a best friend or family member who smoked, and attitudes that smoking is disgusting and that nonsmokers get better grades.


CONCLUSIONS
Prevention programs should begin early and focus on family and peer influences as well as attitudes.
Greenlund
K J
KJ
Tulane Center for Cardiovascular Health, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, LA 70112-2824, USA.
Johnson
C C
CC
Webber
L S
LS
Berenson
G S
GS
D001741:Black or African American / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D016014:Linear Models; D008145:Louisiana / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010379:Peer Group; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D017678:Sex Distribution; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data