Smoking in Aborigines and persons of European descent in southeastern Australia: prevalence and associations with food habits, body fat distribution and other cardiovascular risk factors

Abstract

Abstract: As part of a population‐base study of risk factors for heart disease, we aimed to establish the prevalence of smoking and to indentify associations between smoking and other risk factors in Australian Aborigines (n = 306) and persons of European descent (n = 553) in two country towns. Smoking prevalence was first analysed as a dichotomy (current smokers compared with nonsmokers), and according to three levels of exposure ( 20 cigarettes per day), and two levels of nonexposure (never and former smoker). Other behavioural, biochemical and physical variables were included in multivariable analyses. Of the Aborigines, 64.4 per cent (95 per cent confidence interval (CI) 59.0 per cent to..