[Primary prevention in the young. Methodology and initial results of a smoking prevention program for adolescents]

An antismoking campaign aimed at the 9-18 year old Genoese school population in 1981-1985 is described. The high percentage of smokers in Italy and the worryingly early age at which the habit is acquired suggested the need for a carefully prepared ongoing programme of primary prevention that would not be limited to occasional speeches. Part of the programme was also directed towards school health officers, teachers and families for whom seminars and refresher courses and topics appropriate for each group were organised. The dangers of smoking framed in a broader context were described and debater before a total of 26,000 school children in 4 years. The results that can only now be examined due to initial difficulties in implementing the programme show that out of 4613 smokers involved in the programme 29.8% stopped smoking after a year. Significantly in the same group and in the same period only 2.5% of the school children began to smoke. In contrast 15.8% new smokers were found in the control group. Further checks on a wider sample are scheduled in order to verify and confirm the results presented.