Tobacco use among Australian secondary students in 1996.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To estimate smoking prevalence among Australian secondary students in 1996 and to examine trends in smoking prevalence since 1984. METHOD: A randomly selected representative sample of 434 secondary schools from across Australia participated in the study. At each school 80 randomly selected students completed a pencil-and-paper questionnaire anonymously. Data from 29,850 students aged between 12 and 17 years are reported. RESULTS: Current smoking (smoking in the week before the survey) was 8% in boys and 7% in girls aged 12, and rose to a peak prevalence among 17 year olds of 28% for boys and 34% for girls. The mean number of cigarettes smoked per week among current smokers rose f..