title: [Cigarette smoking habit among 8th graders in different Italian regions. Collaborative Group S.I.D.R.I.A. (Italian Studies on Respiratory Disorders in Childhood and the Environment)].
abstract: Smoking is still one of the greatest causes of premature death in the world. Preventing young people from beginning to smoke is a major public health priority. This paper describes smoking prevalence among eight graders in different geographical Italian areas, and the associations between smoking habit and behavioural risk factors. Data come from S.I.D.R.I.A.--Italian Studies on Respiratory Disorders in Childhood and the Environment--a collaborative research project which involved 21,846 eight graders living in ten different areas of Northern and Central Italy. Information was provided by both adolescents and parents through ad hoc questionnaires. The response rate was very high (96% for students and 94% for parents). Overall smoking prevalence is 8.8% (95% CI = 7.9-9.7); the prevalence rate is 10.5% and 6.9%, respectively for males and females. Current smoking (> 1 cigarettes/week) prevalence, 5.1% (6.1% males-4.0% females), is higher then occasional smoking prevalence (< 4 cigarettes/month), 3.7% (4.4% males-2.9% females). Father's education, household crowding and residence area are associated with students smoking habit. Behavioural variables associated with smoking among students are: parental smoking (OR = 2.11), others smoking in the household (OR = 1.84) and the hours spent in public places with smokers (> 7 hours/week) (OR = 12.6). These results suggest the need of taking into account the family and social environment in programming health educational activities aimed at reducing smoking among adolescents.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D000074606:Smoking Prevention; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
vernacular_title: Abitudine al fumo di sigarette tra gli studenti di III media in diverse aree italiane. Gruppo Collaborativo S.I.D.R.I.A. (Studi Italiani sui Disturbi Respiratori nell'Infanzia e l'Ambiente).