[A survey of smoking behavior among junior high school students and smoking prevention education developed using the survey results]

In June 1996 and 1997, a self-administered anonymous questionnaire survey of smoking behavior was conducted on students (118 boys and 135 girls) of two junior high schools in Kami-gun, Kochi Prefecture. Following the surveys, smoking prevention education classes were held using the survey results as material for education. The survey results were as follows; 1. The percentage of ever-smokers was higher in boys than in girls, 37.9% and 22.8% respectively. The percentage of those who smoked at least one cigarette during the past one month was 2.9%, and the rate increased with school grade. 2. Most commonly, first experience of smoking was between the 4th to 6th grades in elementary school, and the main motive for first smoking was curiosity. 3. The association between smoking and lung cancer was the most widely known, and that between smoking and intrauterine growth retardation was relatively well-known among students. More than 90% of students clearly understood the harmfulness of passive smoking. 4. The results of logistic regression analyses revealed that friends' and parents' smoking were significant correlates of smoking experience in boys. Among girls no significant relationship was found. The content of smoking prevention education class consisted of quizzes about smoking, an explanation of the survey results, an exhibition of a cross-sectional model of the lung, an experiment of smoking using a small doll, an analysis of expired air carbon monoxide concentration, and an explanation of the harmfulness of smoking. The reports of the students after the class showed that not only the explanation of the harmfulness of smoking, but also the experiment or explanation of the survey results appeared to be effective educational content.