Smoking among in-school adolescents in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: results from the Global Youth Tobacco Survey

Using data from the 2003 Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) Global Youth Tobacco Survey (GYTS), we assessed factors associated with current cigarette smoking among adolescents. We estimated frequencies and conducted logistic regression analysis to identify predictors of current cigarette smoking. Of the 1947 students included in the study, 1893 students indicated their gender of which 53.4% were females. Most (59.7%) students were in the 13-15 years age group. Some 13.3% (95% CI: 11.8%-14.9%) reported to have ever tried or experimented with cigarette smoking and 4% (63/1827) (95% CI: 2.5-4.2%) were current cigarette smokers. Factors that were associated with current cigarette smoking were being male, having a friend or parent who smoked, owning an item with a cigarette brand logo, having used other tobacco products other than cigarettes, having some pocket money and having been offered free cigarettes by a tobacco firm representative. Having discussed the harmful effects of smoking with a family member or in school, and exposure to pro-tobacco mass media were not associated with cigarette smoking. Many of the associated factors of cigarette smoking among in-school adolescents in Dar es Salaam are the same as those described previously from the developed nations. However, we found that tobacco-related mass media was not associated with current cigarette smoking. This finding may suggest that the media may not be exerting much influence in facilitating tobacco use in Tanzania.