to yield secondary pollutants'. On the other hand, secondhand smoke (SHS), an established and serious health hazard 2,3 , consists of a 'mixture of the sidestream smoke (i.e. smoke emitted from the burning cigarette, pipe, or cigar) and the mainstream smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers' 1 . Hence, children and non-smoker adults experience SHS exposure by involuntary inhalation of sidestream ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION Thirdhand smoke (THS) is the toxic residue of tobacco smoke that persists long after tobacco smoking on the clothing and hair of smokers and in the surrounding environment. This study aimed to assess parents' beliefs about THS in terms of harm and persistence in the environment and evaluate associations between parents' THS beliefs and home smoking rules. METHODS A sample of parents living in Kuwait were enrolled in a cross-sectional study. Parents reported home smoking rules (strict, partial, and no, home smoking ban) and completed the 9-item Beliefs About ThirdHand Smoke (BATHS) scale that assessed parents' overall, health, and persistence beliefs about THS. Associations between the quartiles of THS overall, health, and persistence beliefs scores and home smoking rules were evaluated using a modified Poisson regression, and adjusted prevalence ratios (APR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were estimated. RESULTS In total, 536 parents (404 females) were enrolled in the study, with 42.0% (n=225) and 43.6% (n=234) reporting a strict or partial home smoking ban, respectively. The prevalence of a strict home smoking ban was higher among never smokers than among ever smokers (49.1% vs 25.2%, p<0.001). The majority of participants indicated that THS exposure harms the health of children (67.2%) and adults (60.6%) and THS residue could remain for days in the environment (58.9%). The prevalence of a strict home smoking ban increased as THS overall (APR Q4 vs Q1 = 1.48; 95% CI: 1.12-1.96), health (APR Q4 vs Q1 = 1.22; 1.02-1.45), and persistence (APR Q4 vs Q1 = 1.55; 1.17-2.05) beliefs scores increased. CONCLUSIONS Parents' harm and persistence beliefs about THS were associated with enforcing a strict home smoking ban, which provides a safer environment for children and non-smokers. Therefore, tobacco prevention programs need to incorporate educational messages about the harm of THS in an attempt to promote smoke-free homes.
This work was carried out to study the perception of 440 female and male first-year Kuwait University students on body weight gain. Students attended 11 colleges of the University, 6 of theoretical-type and 5 science-type colleges. Each college was represented by 40 students of both genders. Freshmen were chosen for this study to reduce the influence of their subsequent studying at different colleges to a minimum. A simple questionnaire that contained a section on demographics and 5 subsections, with 2 statements for each, was utilized in collecting responses from willing students. Correct responses were agreed upon by a panel of nutritionists and trained interviewers administered the questionnaire on a face-to-face basis. Obtained results were recorded and were statistically analyzed, with a set level of p<0.05 for statistical significance. Results showed varied percentages in the numbers of correct answers for 2-4 subsection (14-21%) and that only 5% of students answered all correctly. Demographic factors that significantly influenced responses were: college type on subsection 4(p<0.001), governorate of residence on subsection 3(p<0.01), and number of siblings on subsection 2(p<0.05). Other demographic factors: age, gender nationality father education, mother education and monthly income did not influence responses. With concerns being raised in the literature about the nutrition and lifestyle of university students and, consequently their effect on body weight change, it is recommended that a short course on basics of healthy nutrition and lifestyle should be offered to freshmen across all study disciplines taught in universities. Educational interventions could prove valuable for their stage of study and for the rest of their lives.
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