Perception of cigarette smoking and advertisement among senior secondary school students in Ibadan, Southwestern Nigeria

• Published in: West African journal of medicine Vol. 26; no. 3; pp. 206 - 209
• Main Authors: Omokhodion, F O, Faseru, B O
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Nigeria 01-07-2007
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Advertising as Topic; Child; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Health Behavior; Health Education; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Humans; Male; Nigeria - epidemiology; Prevalence; Public Health; Risk-Taking; Schools; Smoking - epidemiology; Smoking - psychology; Social Perception; Students; Surveys and Questionnaires; Nigeria
• ISSN: 0189-160X

Cigarette smoking among youths is increasingly a public health concern.
This study sought to determine the prevalence of smoking among secondary school students and to assess their perception of smoking and cigarette advertisement.
A cross sectional study was conducted among 1,223 senior secondary school students in Ibadan, Southwest Nigeria.
The prevalence of smoking among this population was 41 (3.4%) with 115 (9.4%) reporting that they had ever smoked. Mean age of smoking initiation was 14.2 years. Smoking was greater among males than females and in higher secondary school classes. Only 700 (57%) of students knew that smoking was harmful to their health and 477 (39%) reported that they had been taught about the harmful effects of smoking in the school teaching programme. Twenty-six percent of students had an item with a cigarette brand name on it and 19% had been offered a free cigarette by a cigarette representative. One hundred and twenty-two (10%) of the students indicated that they will smoke when they leave school.
Although the prevalence of smoking among students was low, exposure to cigarette advertisements may encourage them to smoke.