Smoking: The Changing Habits of Male Adolescents a Comparison of Three Generations of Young Soldiers

Abstract

The smoking habits of three generations of junior entrants to the Army, aged 15 to. 18 years, have been examined by questionnaires in 1959, 1966 and 1971. An assessment has been made from these three comparable populations of adolescent males of changes in smoking habits over the 12-year period in question. The results indicate a slight increase in the proportion who have never tried smoking. Of those who have smoked, the age of starting feU between 1959 and 1966 but remained almost constant thereafter. There has been a decrease in Jlrevalence, marked for aIr age group~ except the IS-year olds, to a greater extent than that reported for the civilian community over the same period. NOlle the less the prevalence of smoking among Army· boys still remains much higher than that of their civilian counterparts. In terms of numbers smoked, but again with· the exception of IS-year olds, there has been a significant diminution among the smokers, particularly marked between 1966 and 1971, of the proportion smoking more than 40 a week. This diminution is counter to the national tendency for young males. ~ IntroductionIt is an illuminating, albeit sad commentary on the British people's powers of self deception that there should have been no more than an evanescent and transitory response-in terms of smoking habits-to the two reports from the Royal College of Physicians (1962, 1971) on smoking and health: Despite these reports and the introduction of national anti"smoking campaigns (although the expenditure on the latter remains minuscule in comparison with that on smoking promotion) the consumption of tobacco products in the United Kingdom continues to rise. Propaganda aimed at stopping the young from starting is likely-if successful-to have a much more valuable long-term outcome than efforts to wean· the adult addict from his psychological and pharmacological dependence. But to a considerable extent anti-smoking propaganda and campaigns are a waste of time unless the results achieved can be effectively measured and evaluated. Unfortunately there is little published information about changes over the years of smoking habits of the young. The Royal College of Physicians Report (1971) confessed that there was much uncertainty about the habit changes among boys and girls. Although there have been many. careful studies of smoking habits, it is not easy to find where any similar populations have been studied over a space of years. Some

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Scottish military veterans

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Mortality of army cooks.

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Smoking Impairs the Response to a Physical Training Regime: A Study of Officer Cadets

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