New Zealand based research on youth tobacco use suggests that current efforts to prevent school children smoking are not targeted early enough, as it found a significant number are already experimenting with tobacco by age seven.
The New Zealand Youth Lifestyle Study, due to be released at the New Zealand Smoke-free Conference to be held in Wellington on Monday and Tuesday, is a two-yearly study of secondary school students' beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours towards tobacco. Eighty-two schools and 3,434 students participated in the 2002 Youth Lifestyle Study, said Andrew Waa of the Health Sponsorship Council. The study was completed by students in Years 10 and 12.
"Questions in the Youth Lifestyle Study allow us to compare students from NZ with students from over 150 other countries" says Mr Waa. For example, students were asked if they had ever tried smoking, over two thirds of students had. "The number of young New Zealanders who have ever tried smoking is comparable to rates from the United States, but is considerably higher than that reported in some other countries."