Effective factors in tendency towards cigarette smoking among Tabrizian high school students

Abstract

Background and Objective: A large number of youngsters and adolescents smoke in the different countries and they have inappropriate information about the correlation between cigarette smoking and numerous diseases and do not receive appropriate education in this regard. The aim of this study was to determine effective factors in tendency towards cigarette smoking among adolescents in Iran and promoting public health level with providing appropriate education and changing their attitude to cigarette smoking. Methods: Totally 1000 students of Tabriz city from different schools were randomly chosen. Data were collected by questionnaire consisting of 11 questions without mentioning the personal characteristics of participants that its reliability validity was confirmed by psychiatrists and social medicine specialists. Data were analyzed by SPSS and Chi-square test. Findings: The results of this study showed that 16% of students in Azarshahr, Osku, Khosroshahr and 12.6% of students in Tabriz smoke cigarette. The main reason in tendency towards smoking is lack of suitable recreation that included 33% of all cases and other factors were as follows: Fun, curiosity, hopelessness and social and family problems. Conclusion: Health behaviors are acquired and also are educable and changeable. One of the best ways in preventing cigarette smoking is to give health education especially to adolescents. They should be educated on how to say no against the pressure of their bad friends.

Keywords

• adolescents
• tendency
• cigarette
• dependency