Cigarette and nargileh smoking practices among school students in Beirut, Lebanon.
OBJECTIVE
To determine the prevalence and predictors of smoking nargileh and/or cigarettes among school students in Greater Beirut, Lebanon.


METHODS
A proportionate random sample of 2443 students from 13 public and private schools was selected and asked to complete self-administered anonymous questionnaires.


RESULTS
The prevalence of smoking cigarettes only, nargileh only, and both was 2.5%, 25.6%, and 6.3%, respectively. Stepwise regression analyses revealed that the predictors of smoking for either type are different, whereby nargileh smoking is more culturally accepted than cigarette smoking.


CONCLUSIONS
Design interventions to increase awareness towards the hazards of the misconceived harmless effects of nargileh smoking.
Tamim
Hala
H
School of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Ontario, Canada. htamim@yorku.ca
Al-Sahab
Ban
B
Akkary
Ghassan
G
Ghanem
Mary
M
Tamim
Nada
N
El Roueiheb
Zana
Z
Kanj
Mayada
M
Afifi
Rima
R
D000293:Adolescent; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006306:Health Surveys; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D008019:Life Style; D008297:Male; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology; D012932:Social Facilitation; D012945:Social Values; D013334:Students / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014029:Tobacco Use Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000208:ethnology