Multiple factors influencing teem smoking propensity

A South Korean teenager whose parents are both smokers is more than four times as likely to smoke than is a teenager with non-smoking parents, according to a story in The Korea Herald citing a government report published yesterday.

The report, released by the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, surveyed 75,000 middle- and high-school students last year. It showed that 17.8 percent of Korean teens whose parents both smoked were smoking as of last year, while 4.3 percent of teenagers with non-smoking parents were smoking.

The study found too that Korean teen smokers were more influenced by their mothers than by their fathers. Thirteen point six percent of teenagers with smoking mothers but without smoking fathers were smoking last year, while 6.4 percent of those with smoking fathers but without smoking mothers were smoking.

Korean teens are significantly influenced also by their friends and siblings. While only 0.8 percent of Korean teens whose close friends don’t smoke were smoking last year, 13.5 percent of those whose friends do smoke were smoking. Also, 15.8 percent of teens whose siblings smoke followed suit, compared to 4.27 percent of those without smoking siblings.

The report showed that the smoking rate among teenagers who attend schools that focus on job training was significantly higher than among those who attend schools that concentrate on academic study. The smoking rate for students who attend vocational schools was 25.6 percent, while that of students at academic schools was 10.9 percent.

Other correlations were found in the socioeconomic status of the parents and in academic performance. While 11.8 percent of teens who declared a low household income level were smoking last year, 7.2 percent of those in high-income homes were smoking.

The proportion of smoking teens who said their school performance was low (15.2 percent) was four times higher than those who said they were doing well at school (3.8 percent).

Teen smoking was said to be associated with mental health and teen drinking.