[Smoking and use of snuff among young people in 2 municipalities in Nordland]

Abstract

A survey of the entire youth population (grades 6 to 9) in two coastal municipalities of northern Norway (N = 356, response rate 94%) showed that the percentage of smokers increased from 6% (with no daily smokers) in 6th grade to 30% (25% daily smokers) in 9th grade, and was higher among girls in all grades. Smoking among young people does not seem to have declined in this country since 1985. 4% of the boys and 2% of the girls used smokeless tobacco regularly, whereas common percentages in nation-wide studies are 10% among boys and 0 to 1% among girls. Smoking and use of smokeless tobacco were strongly correlated with use of intoxicants. The strongest social predictor of smoking was the attitude of parents towards smoking, as perceived by the adolescents themselves, followed by degree of closeness to parents.