title: A cross-sectional study of smoking risk factors in junior high school students in Henan, China.
abstract: This study was conducted to determine the predictors of tobacco use among junior high school students in Henan. Two thousand seven hundred sixty-three students (from grades 7 to 9) were studied. Demographic, smoking-related, and other predictor variables was investigated. Overall, 6.6% of students were current smokers; 8.7% students reported having tried cigarettes before; and 42.1% of current smokers and 34.2% of triers experimented with smoking during ages 10-12. Of the factors associated with student tobacco use, mother and peer smoking were the strongest independent predictors. The school's negative attitude towards smoking was an important protective factor for preventing student smoking behavior. These findings revealed that effective smoking prevention interventions needed to be comprehensive.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chronic Disease Prevention, Henan Center For Disease Control and Prevention, Henan, People's Republic of China. lianzhang176@yahoo.com
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: W F
authors.initials: WF
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D005544:Forecasting; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012307:Risk Factors; D012309:Risk-Taking; D012572:School Health Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013334:Students / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires