RESUMO
Although the hazards of smoking is well known, the number of smokers among high school students is still high. There are many factors influencing these students to start smoking. This study was conducted to discover the size of the population of smokers among high school students is still high. There are many factors influencing these students to start smoking. This study was conducted to discover the size of the population of smokers among high school students, their smoking behaviour, and what factors might be associated as risk factors. Questionnaires were filled by 1627 respondents between 12 and 22 years of age of which 955 (58.7%) are boys and 672 (41.3%) are girls. Among all male respondents there were found 622 (86.2%) experimental smokers; among all the girls there were only 99 (13.7%) experimental smokers. From the total number of experimental smokers, 377 (95.2%) boys and 19 (4.8%) girls eventually became smokers. One hundred and seventeen (16.2%) students tried smoking before 13 years old, 65 of these students became smokers. This study found that socio-economic status, parents, friends, and siblings who smoked, and social environment, have significant influence on high school students' smoking habits. To prevent and lower the number of smokers among students in high schools, health and smoking education must be started in the schools as early as possible.
