The impact of anti-smoking laws on high school students in Ankara, Turkey

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To determine the factors affecting the smoking habits of high school students, their thoughts about changes resulting from anti-smoking laws, and how they are affected by those laws. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 11th-grade students at eight high schools in Ankara, Turkey, were invited to complete a questionnaire. RESULTS: A total of 1,199 students completed the questionnaire satisfactorily. The mean age of the respondents was 17.0 ± 0.6 years; 56.1% were female, of whom 15.3% were smokers; and 43.9% were male, of whom 43.7% were smokers (p < 0.001). The independent risk factors for smoking were male gender, attending a vocational school, having a sibling who smokes, having a friend who smokes, and poor academic performance. Of the respondents, 74.7% were aware of the content of anti-smoking laws; 81.8% approved of the restrictions and fines; and 8.1% had quit smoking because of those laws. According to the respondents, the interventions that were most effective were the (television) broadcast of films about the hazards of smoking and the ban on cigarette sales to minors. The prevalence of smoking was highest (31.5%) among students attending vocational high schools but lowest (7.5%) among those attending medical vocational high schools. Although 57.1% of the smokers were aware of the existence of a smoking cessation helpline, only 3.7% had called, none of whom had made any attempt to quit smoking. CONCLUSIONS: Although most of the students evaluated were aware of the harmful effects of smoking and approved of the anti-smoking laws, only a minority of those who smoked sought professional help to quit.

The prevalence of dyslipidemia and associated factors in children and adolescents with type 1 diabetes

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Cigarette smoking in adolescents with type 1 diabetes mellitus and congenital adrenal hyperplasia

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“…Fighting against cigarette smoking, which is a serious public health concern, is of capital importance around the world. 3,14 Within the Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted by Choi et al 17 in Korea in 2013 with 4235 adolescents aged between 13 and 15 years, it was seen that 66.8% of the adolescents wanted to quit smoking cigarettes. In our study 8 (72.7%) of the 11 adolescents had considered quitting smoking cigarettes.…”

The impact of local smoke‐free policies on smoking behaviour among adults in Indonesia: a quasi‐experimental national study

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