[Smoking habits among Bierzo adolescents]

The results of a smoking survey, carried out in the Bierzo area, are reported here. The study group included 403 youngsters, 245 males and 158 females, between the ages of 11 and 20 years. One hundred and sixty-three of the 265 youngsters that had smoked sometimes, continued to smoke, with 93 (23.0%) smoking occasionally and 70 (17.3%) smoking habitually. The proportion of females and males was similar. The mean age of males for their first experience with smoking was 12.6 years and was earlier than that for females (13.7 years). There were less smokers among youngsters from families in a high economic situation (18%), but they formed the group with the highest consumption of tobacco. The smoking habit of the youths was related to the tobacco use of their siblings, but not to that of their parents. A negative relationship was found between efficacy at school and smoking. The was also a high frequency of smokers among habitual drinkers.