Author(s): Ahmed Mandil, Abdulaziz BinSaeed, Shaffi Ahmad, Mohammad Yamani, Nouf Turki, Mohammad Al-Enzi, Mohammad Abdul-Karim, Rakan Al-Hamad and Hussam Alnowaiser
This study aimed at studying tobacco consumption patterns among male school children in Riyadh. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was carried out on 5961 male school children, using a modified WHO-GYTS questionnaire. Results: Smoking data was available for 4693(83%) children, among whom 483(10.3%; 95% CI:9.4-11.2%) reported being “current smokers”. Logistic regression reflected independent risk factors for tobacco use to include: educational stage (OR=3.1-4.4 for high school), school type (OR=6.2 for governmental-general compared to private schools), smoking household member (father / mother / brother / friends) (OR=1.5–25.7). Recommendations: Raising awareness of children is important for saving them from taking up the habit and assisting smokers to quit. The school health team should be playing important dual roles: directly for children and indirectly through empowering their teachers in combating tobacco use campaigns. Male school children are mostly affected by their peers, fathers and brothers. Thus, parents and siblings should be role models for their children / siblings, respectively, by not smoking themselves.
