Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention : APJCP
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Asian Pac. J. Cancer Prev. · Apr 2008
Factors related to starting and continuing smoking among senior high school boys in Fukuoka, Japan.
The purpose of this study was to identify factors that influence starting and quitting smoking among Japanese male adolescents aged 15-18. Two thousand and twelve senior high school boys in Fukuoka City, Japan, answered unsigned self-administrated anonymous questionnaires in July 2001. Odds ratios (ORs) and their 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were computed to assess the strength of associations between students' smoking status and alcohol consumption habits. ⋯ This study suggested that drinking habits started earlier than smoking habits among adolescents. Many students had already experienced drinking before admission to senior high school, while the experience of smoking mostly typically started after admission to high school. These data show the urgency of developing anti-smoking educational programs that could be developed and introduced prior to admission to high school.