Smoking behaviour among children and adolescents in Germany. Results of the cross-sectional KiGGS Wave 2 study and trends.

Smoking behaviour during adolescence is particularly important because the pattern of a person's tobacco consumption in later life usually is established in this period. According to recent data from KiGGS Wave 2, 7.4% of 11 to 17 year-old girls and 7.0% of boys of the same age smoke at least occasionally. The proportion of children and adolescents who smoke increases with age. Adolescents with high socioeconomic status smoke less frequently than their peers with medium or low socioeconomic status. Since the beginning of the first KiGGS study (2003-2006), the proportion of 11 to 17 year-olds who smoke fell from 21.4% to 12.4% (2009-2012) and has recently dropped to 7.2% (2014-2017). Despite considerable progress, however, there is still potential to improve tobacco prevention policy in Germany for example using taxation and advertising bans.