The impact of military service on young men's smoking behavior

In a cross-sectional study of 2,112 Norwegian army conscripts ages 18 to 25, the prevalence of daily smoking was 50.9%. Among the smokers, 55.7% had increased smoking during military service, and 7.8% of the nonsmokers had started to smoke. These changes in smoking behavior were correlated with having a best friend who smoked, with dissatisfaction with the military service, with physical inactivity, and with frequent alcohol consumption. Ninety percent lived in dormitories when cigarette smoking occurred regularly. Attitudes toward smoking restrictions were determined mainly by the subjects' smoking behavior and subjective discomfort caused by cigarette smoke. Smokers as well as nonsmokers having a best friend who smoked were significantly less bothered by cigarette smoke than others. The findings support the conclusion that military service has a negative influence on the smoking behavior of young Norwegian men. Intervention strategies are recommended.