al-Faris E A
Department of Family and Community Medicine, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Public Health. 1995 Jan;109(1):47-55. doi: 10.1016/s0033-3506(95)80075-1.
To estimate the prevalence of smoking among Saudi rural secondary school students and to explore their attitudes towards smoking.
A cross-sectional study was conducted during May and June 1993, using a modified and translated version of the World Health Organization (WHO) standard questionnaire for the survey of smoking. Six rural male secondary schools near Riyadh were randomly selected, and 358 students representing half of the classes were included.
Current smokers represented 17% of the students. The most common reasons for smoking were desire (32%), idleness (28%), imitation (22%) and enjoyment (20%). The majority knew about and understood the hazards of smoking. Around half of the smokers had started the habit before the age of 15. The media were the primary source of knowledge about smoking hazards for 66% of students; doctors (45%) and educators (30%) had a less significant role. Religion was the most important reason for not smoking among non-smokers. Financial reasons were less important (11%), probably reflecting the relatively cheap price of cigarettes.
The size of the smoking problem is big enough to be considered a warning of an impending epidemic. Schools should have a greater role in health education. The government should adopt a policy of regular increases in cigarette taxes to cover part of the cost of treating smoking-related diseases.
评估沙特农村中学生的吸烟率，并探究他们对吸烟的态度。
1993年5月至6月进行了一项横断面研究，使用了经修改和翻译的世界卫生组织（WHO）吸烟调查标准问卷。随机选取了利雅得附近的六所农村男子中学，纳入了代表一半班级的358名学生。
当前吸烟者占学生总数的17%。吸烟最常见的原因是好奇（32%）、无聊（28%）、模仿（22%）和享受（20%）。大多数人了解并明白吸烟的危害。大约一半的吸烟者在15岁之前就开始有吸烟习惯。媒体是66%的学生了解吸烟危害的主要知识来源；医生（45%）和教育工作者（30%）的作用相对较小。宗教是不吸烟者不吸烟的最重要原因。经济原因不太重要（11%），这可能反映了香烟价格相对较低。
吸烟问题的规模大到足以被视为即将流行的警示信号。学校在健康教育方面应发挥更大作用。政府应采取定期提高香烟税的政策，以支付部分与吸烟相关疾病的治疗费用。
