[Smoking and school children: context, opinions and behavior].

BACKGROUND

This paper studies smoking epidemiology in school-age students.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

A cross-sectional survey of 8th grade students (13-14 years-old) in the schools of Barcelona (Catalonia, Spain) in 1987, 1992 and 1994.

RESULTS

The perception of smoking in the students environment has decreased. The proportion of regular smokers decreases, from 12.6% in 1987 to 9.5% in 1994 (p < 0.05) (an annual decrease of 3.5%) although the proportion who experiment with tobacco remains table.

CONCLUSIONS

There is a decrease in the prevalence of regular smoking in the school-age population (13-14 years-old) in Barcelona (Spain).