Patterns and Predictors of Cigarette use Among Public School Children in Tijuana, Mexico

The use of cigarettes and other forms of tobacco poses a major and growing health threat to populations of developing countries. The present study examined the onset of cigarette use among public school students in Tijuana, Mexico. Fifty-four percent of the males and 34 percent of the females had experimented with smoking. Maternal smoking was more strongly associated with smoking among girls, while peer smoking had a relatively stronger association with future intentions to smoke among boys. Rates of smoking behavior among Mexican-American school children in nearby San Diego more closely resembled the higher rates of their Tijuana than those of their Anglo-American counterparts.