Knowledge and attitudes of young people towards cigarette smoking

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5. Tobacco-related school curriculum

hese questions measure student perception of tobacco-use prevention education. Schools are an ideal setting in which to provide tobacco-use prevention education. School-based tobacco prevention education programmes that focus on skills train- ing have proven effective in reducing the onset of smoking. he questions under this topic look at: •฀ What young people are taught in school about tobacco •฀ Young people’s perceptions of their school’s programmes to prevent cigarette use

6. Environmental tobacco smoke ETS

hese questions measure exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke or environmen- tal tobacco smoke ETS. Since ETS is a significant risk factor for lung cancer, heart disease, asthma exacerbation and induction, respiratory infections, and adverse repro- ductive outcomes, it is important to assess exposure in youth. he questions in this section measure exposure during the past seven days and assess general knowledge or attitude about the harmful effects of ETS, including: •฀ he extent of young people’s exposure to smoking at home and in public places •฀ Young people’s perceptions of the harmful effects of ETS

7. Cessation of cigarette smoking

Many smokers, including youth, are addicted to nicotine and need assistance in quitting. Recently, there has been an increased demand for cessation programmes for youth. A primary reason for this increased demand is the recognition that many young tobacco users are interested in quitting and that they frequently try to quit but are mostly unsuccessful. To monitor the potential impact of tobacco control policies and diversion and cessation programmes it is important to measure: •฀ he short- and long-term likelihood that young cigarette smokers will quit GYTS฀sample฀selection he quality and usefulness of results from the GYTS depends largely on the proce- dures used to select the participating schools, classes sections and students. Because surveying every student is impossible, impractical and unnecessary, a sample of the population is selected. he results from a good sample can be generalized to the entire student population from which the sample is drawn. he results from a poor sample only refer to students who participate. he following describes the two-stage sample design used for the GYTS: STAGE 1: Selection of schools he target population for the GYTS is youth in grades associated with ages 13–15 years. Each country compiles a list of schools, which include grades forms, levels, secondaryies, or standards associated with these ages. he schools are selected with probability proportional to enrolment size PPE. his means that large schools are more likely to be selected than small schools. he number of schools to select is dependent on both statistical and practical con- siderations. Statistically, the number of schools selected can affect the precision of the