Juvenile cigarette smoking

: Cigarette smoking continues to be the main undesirable habit among children and adolescents. Its monitoring may provide valuable information about the effectiveness of health education programmes. The aim of the study was to assess the prevalence of cigarette smoking among the schoolchildren in the city of Poznan. The study was conducted in the school years 2000/2001 and 2001/2002 on the group of 1909 pupils. A lecture "Why I do not smoke" was delivered in every class prior to the distribution of questionnaire about cigarette smoking. 20% of children-more boys than girls-admitted they smoke. Percentage of smokers increases with age. A significant increase in the habit was observed among the 14-16 year olds. There continuous is still a need for health education among the young people in order to limit the unhealthy habits.