[The tobacco habit among children]

The authors investigate the level of tobacco consumption in 240 school boys and girls between the ages of 8 and 14 in an urban and semiurban area of Galicia. 29% of the school children in Galicia smoke tobacco and 19.6% are habitual smokers. The greatest percentage of smokers are: males 35.6% boys and 23% girls, between the ages of 12 and 14, children from working class backgrounds and children with lower academic progress. The habit of smoking practised outside the home is associated in a high percentage of cases to the consumption of alcohol (65% of the smokers drink alcohol habitually). The consumption of tobacco is greater in children with parents that smoke. Only 1.25% of the sample smoke marihuana habitually.