title: Smoking among youths in China.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To inform a prevention strategy, this study determined the prevalence of and attitudes toward smoking among Chinese secondary school students.
  
  
  METHODS
  Self-completion questionnaires were administered to 13- to 18-year-olds attending school in Zhejiang Province, eastern China.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 6674 respondents, 15.9% (25.7% of the boys, 5.4% of the girls) were ever smokers. Only 0.3% were regular smokers. Of the ever smokers, 41.9% had smoked before 10 years of age and 7.9% before 5 years of age. Parental smoking was the strongest predictor of smoking.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The very low prevalence of regular smoking found in this age group suggests that prevention programs in school may be beneficial. Parents should be encouraged to adopt more responsible attitudes toward smoking in the home.
authors.affiliation: Centre for International Child Health, Institute of Child Health, University College London, London, England. hesketh@mail.hz.zj.cn
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Hesketh
authors.forename: Q J
authors.initials: QJ
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tomkins
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000294:Adolescent Behavior; D000328:Adult; D001290:Attitude; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D010290:Parents; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires