Smoking habits in French adolescents

A survey on adolescent smoking habits was carried out among 2,587 girls and boys, mostly aged between 11 and 16 and belonging to 16 schools representative of the 'département' of Rhône in France, in order to evaluate present smoking behaviour as well as estimate the influence of parents, friends and sociodemographic factors in acquiring or maintaining the habit. Students were surveyed in schools using a self-administered, anonymous questionnaire. Analysis was carried out using both the univariate and logistic methods, aiming at a precise quantification and description of the smoking habit, as well as an identification of predictors of smoking, separately for girls and boys, and also for triers only, occasional and regular smokers. Smoking regularly increases with age and from the age of 14 becomes slightly more prevalent among girls than boys. The influence of peer smoking (group of friends and best friend) seems stronger than parental smoking, although determinants of smoking differ moderately for girls and boys.