Smoking habit among secondary school students in the eastern region of Cairo: Prevalence and social aspects

ABSTRACT

The present study was conducted to determine the prevanlence of smoking habit and social aspects of taking up smoking among secondary school students in the eastern region of Cairo. A questionnaire was aministered in March 1990 to 5294 students. The proportion of current smokers ware 24.8% for boys and 4.8% for girls. The study revealed that peer smoking was most strongly related to the student smoking status. Parental smoking sibling smoking, maternal employment and an average pocket money of about 10 L.E. were also significantly associated with the smoking status of the student. Fostering of resistance to social pressure to smoke and family involvement should be considered in smoking prevention programmes for this age group