ABSTRACT
Chile presenta la triste realidad de ser el país con más alto tabaquismo escolar a nivel mundial, prevalencia-mes 34.2 por ciento. Las características que esta pandemia presenta en Chile son: inicio precoz, alrededor del 45 por ciento de los fumadores comienzan antes de los 12-13 años y un importante porcentaje antes de los 10 años; infantilización del tabaquismo, incio del hábito cada vez más precozmente; feminización del tabaquismo, mayor prevalencia en género femenino que masculino en la edad escolar; permisividad del hábito tabáquico a los estudiantes en sus hogares; y aumento progresivo del tabaquismo a medida que avanza la edad escolar, con una cifra cercana al 50 por ciento al egresar de la educación media. A pesar de los esfuerzos que se ha realizado como país: plantear la diminución del hábito tabáquico como meta sanitaria 2010, la ratificación del Convenio Marco, la modificación de la Ley del Tabaco, entre otros, no se ha evidenciado un cambio significativo en esta realidad. Por esta razón se hace imprescindible la modificación de la Ley del Tabaco en Chile y el involucramiento de los profesionales de la salud en todas las instancias que signifiquen disminuir significativamente este flagelo, el factor de riesgo prevenible más importante en la salud.
Subject(s)
Humans , Male , Female , Child , Adolescent , Tobacco Use Disorder/adverse effects , Tobacco Use Disorder/epidemiology , Adolescent Behavior , Age of Onset , Child Behavior , Chile/epidemiology , Prevalence , School Health Services , Sex Factors , Students , Tobacco Use Disorder/mortality , Tobacco Use Disorder/psychologyABSTRACT
Background: In developed countries, the prevalence of asthma in children has significantly increased in the last decades. However, there is no information about the trends of asthma in Latin America. Aim: To determine changes in asthma prevalence between 1994 and 2002 in Chilean schoolchildren. Material and methods: The prevalence of asthma symptoms in schoolchildren aged 7 (n =18.697) and 13 years (n =18.939), from South Santiago, Valdivia and Punta Arenas, obtained during phases I and III of the ISAAC, carried out in 1994 and 2002, was compared. Results: From 1994 to 2002, the mean national prevalence of "wheezing in the last 12 months" in the group aged 6-7years, changed from 18.2 percent to 17.9 percent (p =NS); "asthma ever" from 12.5 percent to 10.7 percent (p =NS), and "severe episode" from 3.2 percent to 2.8 percent (p =NS). There was a significant increase of the prevalence of "wheezing in the last 12 months", in children aged 13-14years, from 9.8 percent to 15.5 percent (p =0.01); in "asthma ever" from 10.2 percent to 14.9 percent (p =0.01), and for "severe episode" from 2.8 percent to 3.8 percent (p =0.01). Conclusions: There was a significant increase in the prevalence of respiratory symptoms related to asthma in children aged 13-14 years that was consistent in all the 3 participating centres of the ISAAC. However, the prevalence of asthma symptoms in children aged 6-7 years remained without significant changes between 1994 and 2002.