Prevalence of tobacco smoking and knowledge of harmful effects of smoking among school children in Warsaw

: The study was carried out on 1493 school children (740 girls and 753 boys) from randomly selected Warsaw schools. Among them 1006 attended classes 6 and 8 of elementary schools, and 487 attended 2nd classes of secondary schools; vocational schools, technical schools and general education secondary schools. The inquiry for data collecting was based on the variable serving for description of the prevalence of smoking and determination of the extent of knowledge possessed by the children on harmful effects of smoking. The obtained results were subjected to statistical analysis. It was found that 51% of these children, more boys than girls, had already tried smoking. Most boys smoked their first cigarette at the age or 10 and 12 years, and girls at 14 years. The first contact with cigarettes had already been made by 31% children in class 6, 55% of those in class 8 of elementary schools, 53% of students in class 2 of general education secondary schools, 71% of those in class 2 of technical schools and 79% of those in vocational schools. The first contact with smoking was not meaning that these children continued smoking; from 46% to 77% of them in various classes or schools do not smoke at all. In the studied population 84% (more often girls than boys) do not smoke, but 7% smoke daily (twice as many boys as girls) and the mean number of daily smoked cigarettes is 11. At least one weekly smoke 4% of children. The mean number of weekly cigarettes is 40, but girls smoke 29 and boys 47, on average. Less than once weekly smoke 5% of children, both girls and boys. Most children smoking daily attend 2nd classes of vocational schools.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)