• Joanna Mazur, Barbara Woynarowska, and Anna Kowalewska.
• Zakład Ochrony i Promocji Zdrowia Dzieci i Młodziezy, Instytut Matki i Dziecka w Warszawie. joanna.mazur@imid.med.pl
• Prz. Lek. 2008 Jan 1; 65 (10): 541-5.

AbstractHBSC (Health Behaviour in School-aged Children) study can serve as a basis for monitoring smoking prevalence in school-aged children. Previous studies 1990-1998 have shown an increase in tobacco smoking among 15-year-old students, followed by a decrease in 1998-2002. The aim of this study was to present current international comparisons of selected indicators and changes in 2002-2006. An international standard questionnaire prepared in the frame of HBSC study was used and school-based cross-sectional survey was conducted. In Poland, the sample was selected as representative for pupils from III grade of lower secondary school with mean age of 15.7 yrs (2002 N = 2152; 2006 N = 2287). Polish data was compared with combined international samples from 37 countries. In 2006, 58.9% of Polish 15-year-old students reported that ever tried to smoke, 24.6% smoked at the time of survey, while 12.4% were regular smokers. The proportion of children who reported every day smoking has decreased substantially during 2002-2006. The rate of change was lower in girls than in boys. Decreasing trend was observed in most HBSC network countries. However, in most countries the improvement was higher than in Poland, especially in girls. More attention should be paid to divergent trends in smoking among adolescent boys and girls. Despite favorable trends in Polish boys, smoking prevalence is still too high by comparison to other countries and age of smoking initiation is very low.

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