Cigarette smoking among school teachers in Tobago

Tobago, until lately, was considered a society with a low prevalence of cigarette smoking. Recent surveys, however, showed an increasing smoking prevalence among school children. To assess whether teachers in Tobago can be credible role models for their pupils, we carried out a cross-sectional survey on their smoking-related attitudes and behaviour in 2002. We distributed anonymous, structured questionnaires to teachers of all 52 primary and secondary schools in the island and conducted structured observations in schools. Of 579 teachers present during the survey, 559 (97%) returned a completed questionnaire; 8.6% of the male and 2.4% of the female teachers reported to be current cigarette smokers; slightly higher proportions had ever been daily smokers. Teachers were well aware of the harmful effects of smoking. Significantly more non-smokers than current smokers were in favour of strict school smoking regulations. The vast majority of the teachers perceived anti-smoking education as their duty. None of the schools had dedicated smoking rooms for teachers, and we found no cigarette butts in or around teachers' rooms. In Tobago, teachers have a lower reported prevalence of cigarette smoking than their pupils. Thus, most teachers can be credible role models with regard to smoking prevention and should be encouraged to become more active in school-based preventive activities.