Cigarette smoking among school-going adolescents in Kafue, Zambia

Introduction: Cigarette smoking is a leading cause of global morbidity and mortality. Interest in developing countries smoking prevalence has been growing since 1999.
Objectives: To estimate the prevalence of current cigarette smoking and associated factors among school-age adolescents in Kafue, Zambia.
Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted using standard Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS) methodology. Frequencies and odds ratios were obtained to assess the association between selected factors and current cigarette smoking.
Results: Data on current smoking were available for 1872 adolescents, of whom 891 (47.6%) were males and 981 females. Overall 154 (8.2%) adolescents were current cigarette smokers, while 93 (10.4%) males and 61 (6.2%) females were current smokers (p <0.001). The majority of the smokers usually smoked at their own home or at a friend’s house. Having some pocket money, having friends or parents who are smokers, and being exposed to pro-tobacco advertisements at social gatherings were associated with being a current cigarette smoker.
Conclusions: The traditional factors associated with smoking among adolescents elsewhere are also associated with smoking among adolescents in Kafue, Zambia. Public health interventions aimed to reduce adolescent smoking should be designed with these identified associations in mind.