"Back pain" in teenagers and young adults]

The studies aimed to estimate an incidence of the low back pain (LBP) in the youngsters and teenagers and correlating it with risk factors. A groups of 2,346 secondary school pupils (1,704 girls and 642 boys) of a mean age 17 +/- 1 yrs, and 970 high-school students (532 women and 438 men) of a mean age 24 +/- 2 yrs have been examined. Low back pain has been seen in 1,416 out of 2,346 secondary school pupils (60%), and in 32% of the examined students. Statistical analysis with chi 2 test has confirmed a correlation between LBP and such risk factors as the incorrect sedentary position (p < .001 for pupils, and p < .02 for students), and smoking (p < .001 for students and p < .02 for pupils).     

Smokers on Bloemfontein schools: profile and standpoint

Primary prevention is now the first priority of research on smoking. A study was made of 1 505 children of 12 high schools situated in a conservative Afrikaans-speaking community in an attempt to determine the characteristics of the smoking and non-smoking groups. Of the total group 16% were smokers. The male/female ratio was 3:1. The mean age at which smoking commenced was 15,5 years. A positive relationship was found between the smoking habits of the smokers and those of their parents and best friends. The majority of pupils think that smoking is addictive. In addition, they believe that it is unhealthy and leads to poor sporting achievements. The great majority of smokers and non-smokers agree that non-smokers do better at school. Fathers of both smokers and non-smokers do not favour the habit. Ninety per cent of the boys and 83% of the girls started smoking between 12 and 18 years of age. The critical age for a preventive programme is thus 11 years.     

Usefulness of CO measurement in expired air in the study of tobacco consumption by youths and adolescents]

The objective of our work was to know the relationship between carbon monoxide (CO) levels in expired air and smoking habits among school youths and the relationships that can be established between CO level and some peculiar attitudes regarding consume by youths, such as the number of cigarettes, inhaling technique and time elapsed since the last cigarette was smoked. The study, of cross-sectional design, was performed in two high school centres and a total of 777 students who answered a questionnaire and had an expired air CO sample in their own schoolroom tested were enrolled. CO determination in the schoolroom was a simple and attainable technique for the pupils, as only 32 cases (4.1%) had to be excluded due to poor collaboration or poor technique. The mean (mean and SD) CO level in the control group (n = 247), made up by non-smokers nor tobacco tasters was 4.75 (2.46) ppm, statistically lower than among smokers (p < 0.001), but with no differences compared with non smokers (n = 563), who had a CO level of 5.23 (3.4) ppm. This figure was also lower (p < 0.001) than that obtained in the smokers (12.6 [6.3] ppm), made up of 214 pupils, with a mean consume of 2.7 (1.69) cigarettes/day. Among smokers the mean abstinence time since the last cigarette was smoked was 26 (44) minutes and 54% of them admitted to have smoked in the last 10 minutes. CO in expired air correlated significantly with the number of smoked cigarettes (r = 0.58; p < 0.001). Likewise, it correlated significantly with abstinence minutes (r = -0.38; p < 0.001). The time required for CO level to decrease below 10 ppm was 140 minutes in four cases and 120 minutes in 33 cases.     

Effect of dietary protein and environmental temperature on growth performance and water consumption of male broiler chickens

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether smokers outside buildings with work-place smoking bans smoke "harder" than those smoking in social settings. An unobtrusive random observational study of smokers followed by structured interview was used, with 143 smokers taking smoking breaks outside their office buildings and 113 smokers in social settings. The main outcome measurements were number of puffs per cigarette and cigarette smoking duration. The mean number of puffs per cigarette for the office building group was 18.7% greater than that for the social settings group (10.7 +/- 3.2 vs. 8.7 +/- 2.7, t = 5.58, df = 253, p < 0.001); 74.8% of smokers outside offices took more than the mean number of puffs for the group compared to 42.5% of smokers in social settings (chi 2 df 1 = 26.31, p < 0.0001). Mean cigarette smoking duration was 30.4% shorter for the work-place group than the social settings group (3.9 +/- 1.2 minutes vs. 5.6 +/- 2.6 minutes). Of smokers outside offices, 55.2% had a cigarette smoking duration between 3 and 4.59 minutes, while 53.1% of smokers in social settings took > or = 5 minutes to smoke the observed cigarette (chi 2 df 2 = 31.55, p < 0.0001). Smokers who scored at the 75th percentile on the Fagerstrom Tolerance Scale took a mean 9.5 +/- 2.6 puffs per cigarette compared to 9.3 +/- 2.7 puffs by those who scored in the 25th percentile on the scale (t = 0.34, df = 145, p = 0.73). Regardless of degree of nicotine dependency, smokers leaving work-stations to smoke outside buildings smoked their cigarettes nearly 19% "harder" than cigarettes smoked in social settings. The individual and public health benefits of reduced smoking frequency engendered by work-place smoking bans may be lessened by policies which allow smokers to take smoking breaks.     

Unemployment and change of tobacco habits: a study of young people from 16 to 21 years of age

In a cohort study of 1080 pupils who were followed for 5 years from when they left compulsory school (from age 16 to age 21 years), smoking habits were found to correlate with unemployment among both boys and girls. Pupils who were smokers in school had a higher risk of becoming unemployed than non-smokers. Irrespective of early smoking, smoking habits developed more unfavourably among unemployed young people than among those with no unemployment during the period studied. The odds ratio of being a smoker at the age of 21 years when unemployed more than 20 weeks during the observation period, compared with those without or with short unemployment, was 2.44 for men and 3.45 for women. When adjusted for the influence of socio-economic background, education, economy and smoking habits at the start of the period, the odds ratio was 1.7 (95% CI 1.01-2.86) for men and 2.0 (1.13-3.53) for women. The adjusted odds ratio for increasing or starting smoking during the period was 1.5 (95% CI 0.89-2.56) for men and 2.0 (1.18-3.35) for women. No significant correlation was found between snuffing and unemployment. Thus, it seems that unemployment is a risk factor for development of tobacco smoking in young people, especially among women.     

Anti-HCV serology for screening, diagnosis and surveillance of hepatitis C: role of the immunoblot

Smoking is a major health hazard. Most cigarette smokers start by the age of 18 years. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of the intention to smoke among the students of a metropolitan compared to a non-metropolitan high school. The influence of age, sex, demographic and socio-economic variables, and the role of smoking models of family members and friends, were examined. Nine hundred forty-five students (529 males and 416 females; mean age 15.8 +/- 1.5 years) attending a high school in Naples and 442 students (223 males and 219 females; mean age 16.1 +/- 1.6 years) in Capua, a small town 40 Km distant from Naples, filled in an extensive questionnaire on smoking. The prevalence of intention to smoke was 10.4% in Naples and 9.3% in Capua. It was related to age (p < 0.01) in Naples, but not in Capua. The prevalence of smokers was 24.2% in Naples (males 21.6%, females 27.6%; p = 0.038) and 24.1% in Capua (males 29.2%, females 19%; p = 0.017). As expected, in both cities intention to smoke was associated (p < 0.001) with the strength of existing smoking habit. Students smoking over 21 cigarettes/week were more likely to continue than students smoking less 21 cigarettes/week, both in Naples and in Capua. More than half of smoking students, in both cities, were irresolute about their habit in the subsequent year. In Naples, intention to smoke of male students was associated with mother's (p = 0.02) and siblings' (p < 0.0001) smoking habit; in female students intention to smoke was associated with father's (p = 0.02), mother's (p < 0.001), parents' (p < 0.01) and siblings' smoking habit (p = 0.0002). In Capua an association was evident, in male students, between intention to smoke and paternal smoking habit (p = 0.04); in female students, intention to smoke was associated with siblings' smoking habit (p = 0.03). In Naples and in Capua, for both sexes, intention to smoke was related to smoking habits of the best friend of the same sex (p < 0.0005), the best friend of the opposite sex (p < 0.00005) and friends (p < 0.00001). Multivariate analysis showed, in Naples, an independent relation between adolescent intention to smoke and age (p = 0.01), smoking status of student (p < 0.0001) and friends' smoking habit (p = 0.01). In male students intention to smoke was associated with age (p = 0.003), smoking habit of student (p < 0.0001), mother's (p = 0.02) and friends' (p = 0.02), whereas in females it was associated with smoking behavior of student (p < 0.0001). In Capua student intention to smoke was related to the smoking status of the student (p < 0.0001) and of the best friend of the opposite sex (p < 0.04); in male as in female students, intention to smoke was associated with smoking habit of the student (p < 0.0001). In conclusion, prevalence of adolescents' intention to smoke is similar in two distinct populations of high school students of a city and a small town. Smoking is at higher prevalence among females in the city and among males in the small town. Intention to smoke increases with age, in the great city, and is related to student's existing habit and peer models. More than half of smoking students, in both cities, were irresolute about their habit in the subsequent year. This study has identified some variables associated with adolescents' intention to smoke; we feel that these findings may contribute to a better understanding of smoking behavior among adolescents and may have preventive implications.     

Smoking among 11-15 year-old adolescents, 1984-1994]

The objectives are to describe smoking habits among 11-15-year olds in Denmark in the period 1984-1994 and to describe the association between smoking and social background factors. The article reports data about children at the age of 11, 13 and 15 years from four cross-sectional studies in 1984-1985, 1988, 1991 and 1994 (n = 678, 1667, 1860 and 4046) based on stratified random samples of schools. Data were collected by standardized questionnaires. Median age for first smoking experience changed from approx 12 years in 1984-1985 to approx. 14 years in 1994. The proportion of smokers among 15 year-olds is almost unchanged from 1984 to 1994. In 1994, the proportion of smokers is respectively 2% and 4% among 11 year-old girls and boys, 16% and 11% among 13 year-old girls and boys, and 33% and 25% among 15 year-old girls and boys. The proportion of girls and boys in the three age groups respectively who smoke every day is 0%, 1%, 3%, 4%, 17%, and 11%. In conclusion, smoking habits among children changed considerably from the 1950's to 1980's. The smoking habits have not changed much since the 1980's apart from a slight delay in first smoking-experience.     

First tobacco consumption in children

From 1436 pupils in North-Switzerland 9% of the boys and 3% of the girls smoked their first cigarette within or before the age of six years. 32% of these first cigarettes were smoked in woods or parks. 37% on streets, 31% on other places. 25% of the first cigarettes were stolen, not bought. 50% of all these children remembered to have a headache, vomitying or a stomach-ache after smoking the first cigarette. The boys began to smoke daily at the age of 13, the girls at the age of 14.     

Advances in periodontal diagnosis. 7. Proteolytic and hydrolytic enzymes link with periodontitis

Tobacco use poses one of the greatest health problems at school. Its prevention through health education should be assumed up by all members of the school community and health personnel (especially family and respiratory physicians). We designed an anti-tobacco program lasting three years aimed at all the students of the 6th, 7th and 8th grades at school as well as those in the pre-university years that was implemented in a rural area. This study reports the results of the attitudes of the 610 students (256 boys and 354 girls, between 11 and 20 years old) collected at the end of the program. 59.4% of the boys and 44.1% of the girls reported having smoked on some occasion. The mean age at the time of the first contact with tobacco was 11.8 +/- 2.4 years, this being significantly different between the boys and the girls. The main reasons for starting to smoke tobacco were quoted as peer pressure (57.1%) and curiosity (55.5%). That their parents smoked was only adduced as a reason by 29.5% of the students. Knowledge of the harmful effects of tobacco was limited and only 57% related tobacco smoking to lung cancer and only 41% to coronary pathology. At the end of the program 13.6% of the students involved smoked. 93.9% of those who quit smoking related this event to the program. Of those still smoking, 63.6% said they would like to quit. This justifies the need to reinforce the knowledge that will allow them to switch attitudes and stop smoking. Intervention programs in school populations have proved to be useful in the struggle to decrease smoking among school children. If an adolescent can avoid smoking it is likely that s/he will not smoke in adulthood. It is necessary to further develop this type of anti-tobacco program as reflected in this paper.     

Cigarette advertising and onset of smoking in children: questionnaire survey

OBJECTIVE: To investigate uptake of smoking in a cohort of 11 to 12 year olds related to awareness of advertised cigarette brands named. DESIGN: Self completed questionnaires administered to whole classes of schoolchildren in June 1993 and June 1994. SETTING: Primary, middle, and secondary schools in the north and south of England. SUBJECTS: 1450 pupils aged 11 and 12 years at the time of the first survey. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Onset of smoking and brands smoked by the second survey related to cigarette brands named in the first one. Less advertised brands were used as the base for calculating odds ratios. RESULTS: Girls who named the most advertised brands-namely, Benson and Hedges alone (odds ratio = 2.50, 95% confidence interval = 1.18 to 5.30) or Benson and Hedges and Silk Cut (2.15, 1.04 to 4.42) in the first survey were at greatest risk of taking up smoking by the second one. The difference was similar but not significant for boys. Boys and girls who named the least advertised brands in the first survey were at no greater risk of taking up smoking by the second survey than those who named no brands (boys odds ratio = 0.49 (0.24 to 1.01); girls 0.79 (0.38 to 1.62)). New smokers were more likely to smoke any available brand (29.5%) or a less advertised brand such as Embassy (24.6%) than the most advertised ones, Benson and Hedges (19.7%) and Silk Cut (14.8%). Established smokers were more selective, only 15% smoking any available brand and 38.3% smoking Benson and Hedges. CONCLUSIONS: Cigarette advertising appears to increase children's awareness of smoking at a generic level and encourages them to take up the behaviour, beginning with any cigarettes which are available and affordable.     

Parenting practices as predictors of substance use, delinquency, and aggression among urban minority youth: Moderating effects of family structure and gender.

This study examined how parenting factors were associated with adolescent problem behaviors among urban minority youth and to what extent these relationships were moderated by family structure and gender. 228 6th grade students reported how often they use alcohol, smoke cigarettes, or engage in aggressive or delinquent behaviors; a parent or guardian reported their monitoring and other parenting practices. Findings indicated that boys and those from single-parent families engaged in the highest rates of problem behavior. More parental monitoring was associated with less delinquency overall, as well as less drinking in boys only. Eating family dinners together was associated with less aggression overall, as well as less delinquency in youth from single-parent families and in girls. Unsupervised time at home alone was associated with more smoking for girls only. Implications for prevention interventions are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Adverse influence of cigarette smoking on the endothelium

The effect of smoking on the blood vessel intima was examined by comparing indices of endothelial activity in serum from smokers with that from non-smokers. Serum from smokers contained higher levels of von Willebrand factor (p < 0.01), the smoking markers cotinine (p < 0.02) and thiocyanate (p < 0.01), and was more cytotoxic to endothelial cells in vitro (p < 0.02) than serum from non-smokers. The acute effects of smoking two unfiltered medium tar cigarettes was to briefly increase von Willebrand factor (p < 0.001) and cytotoxicity of serum to endothelial cells in vitro (p < 0.005), but lipid peroxides or thiocyanate were not increased by this short exposure to tobacco smoke. Although there were correlations between von Willebrand factor and smokers consumption of cigarettes (r = 0.28, p < 0.02), number of years smoking (r = 0.41, p < 0.001) and cotinine (r = 0.45, p < 0.01), the tissue culture of endothelial cells with physiological levels of thiocyanate or nicotine suggested that these two smoking markers were not cytotoxic. They are therefore unlikely to be directly responsible for increased von Willebrand factor in the serum of smokers. We suggest that smoking exerts a deleterious influence on the endothelium and that the mechanism is complex.     

Age and sex differences in health habits and beliefs of schoolchildren.

Surveyed 1,981 boys and 1,952 girls in Grades 3–12 about health habits and beliefs, including smoking and eating habits, perceptions of exercise, weight, and parental involvement in health. Factors that emerged were smoking habits, family discussion of health, family thinking about health, nutritional habits, and health locus of control. Girls generally reported healthier food habits than did boys. However, adolescent girls reported more cigarette smoking than did adolescent boys. Also, boys consistently reported higher levels of exercise. There were also changes in habits and belief with age; trends that emerged in junior high school continued through high school. Adolescence also seems to be a transitional time for health habits, as suggested by personal experimentation and individual variation. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The short-term effect of a smoking prevention program for the upper graders of elementary schools--the results of intervention study for two years with quasi-experimental design

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term effect of a smoking prevention program for Japanese elementary school-children in the fifth and sixth grades. The program was developed with concepts found in the Know Your Body Program and the conclusions of a National Cancer Institute-convened Expert Advisory Panel, and focused on teaching about the short-term effects of smoking and on resistance to social pressures to smoke. The study was conducted with a quasi-experimental design. An intervention group (52 boys and 54 girls) received three sessions for both the fifth grade in 1992 and the sixth grade in 1993. Moreover, the intervention group received a pre-test before the first session and a post-test after the third session in each grade. A comparison group (102 boys and 91 girls) received the same tests at the same time as the intervention group, but did not receive any program on smoking prevention. The short-term effect of the program were evaluated using the results of the pre-test in the fifth grade and of the post-test in the sixth grade in both groups. The results were as follows: 1) Remarkable short-term effects of the intervention were seen in respect to awareness of the importance of not smoking in girls, and also in the knowledge of the short-term effects of smoking in both sexes. 2) The intervention was not effective with respect to intention to smoke at the age of 20 and self-efficacy of refusing to smoke in both sexes. 3) The short-term effects were not clear in the smoking behavior in both sexes because the rates of ever smokers and of monthly smokers were almost the same for two years between the intervention group and the comparison group. 4) The smoking behaviors of children, their parents and their best friends had little influence on the results of the post-test in the sixth grade.     

Survey of the prevalence of smoking in Rumanian teachers

214 teachers and headmasters of Bucharest high schools were questioned in respect of their smoking habits to find out how widespread smoking is among teachers and how this influences the pupils. 33% of the teachers and 38.9% of the headmasters smoked. 69.2% of the smokers belonged to the age group above 35 years, i.e. the majority, whereas the age group below 20 years included 56.9% smokers. Although 93.8% of the teachers and headmasters are convinced that smoking is harmful to health, 7.4% of them smoke in the classroom and 37% in the presence of pupils. The results of this investigation show that attention should be paid to the smoking habits of teachers since setting a good example for adolescents is as important in the case of teachers as it is in the case of physicians.     

Hormonal events during female puberty in relation to breast cancer risk

Cigarette smoking among adolescents continues to be a major public health problem in the United States. Smoking trends from 1976-1977 to 1992-1994 were examined in the Bogalusa Heart Study, an investigation of cardiovascular disease risk factors among black and white, male and female adolescents in a semirural town in the southern United States. Age-race-sex specific chi 2 tests for trends over five survey periods were conducted. In almost every age group, black boys and girls were less likely to be current smokers or to have ever smoked or tried cigarettes, as compared with white boys and girls, respectively (P < 0.01). Within age groups, few significant trends in smoking status from 1976-1977 through 1992-1994 were observed among white boys and girls. Among black males and females, however, sharp decreases were observed among all age groups in the prevalence of having ever smoked or tried cigarettes (P = 0.0001) and among the older age groups in the prevalence of being a current smoker (P = 0.0001). Thus, substantial declines in the prevalence of smoking were observed among black children but not among white children. Further research is required to understand why these ethnic differences in smoking occurred so that public health programs may target further the smoking behaviors in children.     

Intestinal helminthiasis, nutritional status, and their relationship; a cross-sectional study in urban slum school children in Indonesia

In a study of urban slum school children (276 boys and 231 girls), in Ujung Pandang, Indonesia, parasitological and anthropometric exams were cross-sectionally performed to assess prevalence and intensity of helminth infections and nutritional status. Prevalence of Ascaris, Trichuris and hookworm was 92%, 98%, and 1.4%, respectively. 91% children had both Ascaris and Trichuris infections. About half of the Ascaris- and Trichuris-infected children (46% and 58%, respectively) had moderate infections. Stunting was seen in 55% of the children, while wasting was observed in 10%. Boys had lower nutritional status than girls (p < 0.001), based on weight-for-age (WA) and height-for-age (HA) Z-scores. Age had an inverse relationship with WA and HA Z-scores (p < 0.0004). A relationship between helminth infections and nutritional status was observed between log Trichuris egg count and WA and HA Z-scores after controlling for age, sex, and log Ascaris egg count (p = 0.048 for HA Z-score, and p = 0.058 for WA Z-score). The relationship was also found when Trichuris infection was categorized into mild, moderate, and severe infections (p = 0.017 and p = 0.001 for HA and WA Z-scores, respectively). Scheffe's test for multiple mean comparisons showed that Trichuris-infected children with above 1,000 eggs per gram feces had significantly lower nutritional status than lower epg or non-infected children (p < 0.001 and p < 0.05 for HA and WA Z-scores respectively).     

Sexual and reproductive health among primary and secondary school pupils in Mwanza, Tanzania: need for intervention

A cross-sectional questionnaire survey was conducted among 892 randomly selected pupils, aged 12 and above, attending 18 primary schools (PS) and five secondary schools (SS) in four communities of Mwanza Region in Tanzania. The goals were to assess the level of knowledge adolescents have about sexual and reproductive health (SRH), to assess the magnitude of SRH problems and to help design appropriate interventions. Median age of respondents was 15 years (range 12-20 years) and 14 years (range 12-19 years) for PS boys and girls, respectively, and 19 years (range 16-24 years) and 17 years (range 14-19 years) for SS boys and girls. Eighty per cent of PS boys and 68% of PS girls were already sexually active; the corresponding figures were 89% for SS boys and 48% for SS girls. Vaginal sex was the most common first sexual act reported by SS pupils, but 40% of PS pupils reported orogenital sex and 9% of PS pupils reported anal sex as their first sexual act. Almost half of PS girls have had sex with adults, including teachers and relatives. 'Forced sex' was reported by nearly half of PS and SS girls. Fourteen per cent of PS girls had already been pregnant, and over half of these pregnancies ended in illegally induced abortions. Despite a rather high (30%) lifetime rate of condom use, 33% and 25% of PS boys and girls, respectively, reported past experience of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). STD rates were lower among SS pupils who had a better knowledge of STDs/HIV and fertility issues and reported higher condom use. The survey demonstrated the great vulnerability of school-going adolescents of Mwanza Region to consequences of sexual intercourse. The response should urgently come in the from of comprehensive adolescent SRH programmes.     

Recreational patterns, body composition and socioeconomic status of Western Australian secondary school students

A study of 4672 secondary school students was carried out in order to assess the relationship between body composition, recreational patterns, and socioeconomic status as indicated by parental occupation and the school attended. Results indicated that there were more girls than boys participating in organized sport, and health and fitness activities; and more boys than girls involved in informal recreational activities and home-based passive pursuits. A higher proportion of participants came from the higher socioeconomic status (SES) group. More high-SES students revealed weight appropriate to their height.