Prevalence of Smokers Among High school Students in Khalkhal city, Iran

A cross-sectional survey was conducted .using a modified questionnaire for the study of cigarette smoking prevalence in Khalkhal city, Iran, during may- June 1999. A simple random sample with size 260 was selected for this study. All of the students in the sample completed a questionnaire. The results showed among 260 students, 104 of them (40%) experienced at least once cigarette smoking and 156 (60%) never smoked cigarette. Also from 104 students who experienced smoking, 26 (25%) persons now are non smoker, 48 (46.2%) sometimes use cigarette, 18(17.3%) often use and 12 (11.5%) always use cigarette. Thus, in comparison with other studies, cigarette smoking prevalence in this study is relatively high. The high prevalence of the cigarette smoking in this population is a warning to the government; parents; families; teachers; health staffs, behavioral scientists, psychologists, socioeconomic and other related specialists for planning and implementation for cigarette smoking control programs.