title: The average age of smoking onset in Germany--trends and correlates.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Germany is rated among the countries with the highest prevalence of tobacco use in Europe. This paper analyzes whether the age of smoking onset has decreased in recent years.
  
  
  METHODS
  Multivariable event data analyses were performed on the basis of the representative national cross-sectional study "Drug Affinity among Young People in the Federal Republic of Germany 2004". The survey involved a total net sample of 3032 individuals aged 12 to 25.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Socioeconomic groups starting to smoke at significantly earlier age include those from the economically deprived areas in eastern Germany, low educational achievers and subjects in households with adult smokers.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The average age of smoking onset has decreased further in the 1978-1992 birth cohorts.
authors.affiliation: Mannheim Institute of Public Health, Social and Preventive Medicine, Mannheim Medical Faculty, Heidelberg University, Germany. sven.schneider@medma.uni-heidelberg.de
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: Sigrid M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Mohnen
authors.forename: Svenja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pust
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D002648:Child; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004493:Education; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012737:Sex Factors; D012907:Smoking / Q000453:epidemiology*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult