ABSTRACT
Background: The study aimed to i) investigate the smoking habits of students attending tertiary institutions of learning in the Eastern Cape Province (ECP) and ii) determine the knowledge of the students about the health hazards of smoking and their attitude towards current government anti-smoking legislation.Methods This was a questionnaire-based study involving all seven tertiary institutions of learning in the ECP; viz. the Universities of Transkei; Fort Hare; Port Elizabeth and Rhodes University; and the Border; Eastern Cape and Port Elizabeth technikons. A total of 1 728 students were interviewed out of a student population of 30;080. Stratified random sampling was used to select the students. Two-way tables were used to test the independence of the variables and chi-square tests were applied. A `p' value of below 5was used as a test of significance.ResultsA total of 1 480 students completed the questionnaires (86). The racial classification of the respondents was 79Black; 13White; 7Coloured and 2Indian. Twenty-six per cent of the students were smokers; of which 37were male and 15were female. Forty-five per cent of the Coloured students smoked; while the figures for Whites and Blacks were 26and 25respectively. Seventy per cent of the students smoked less than 10 cigarettes a day. Fifty-two per cent of the smokers said they wanted to stop smoking. Sixty-one per cent had been influenced to start smoking by their friends and only 13were influenced by advertisements. Ninety-four percent agreed that smoking was dangerous to the smoker's health; while 73responded that there was a relationship between mothers who smoke and low birth weight. Thirteen per cent thought the legislation was too tough; while 30said it was good as it was. On measures to reduce smoking; 86favoured restricting smoking in public places.ConclusionThis study has demonstrated that smoking is prevalent in tertiary institutions of learning in the Eastern Cape Province. The demographic profile of the smokers reflects the national picture. The knowledge of the harmful effects of smoking is generally good