العــلاقــة بيــن البيئــة المدرسيــة وسلوكيــات التدخيــن بيــن طــلاب المــدارس الثانــوية

The Association Between School Environment and Smoking Behaviors Among Secondary Schools Students

Abstract

Background: The most common preventable cause of mortality in Iraq is smoking, which is one of the high-risk behaviors for developing chronic diseases and early mortality , and breaking the smoking habit is difficult. The school environment reflects a broader contextual element that is connected with students smoking.
Objective: To identify the association between school environment and smoking behavior among secondary schools student.
Methodology: A descriptive corraltion study was performed from 27th September, 2022 to 9th July, 2023. The study was conducted in the of secondary schools in the Center of Kerbala City. Multiple-stage cluster systematic random sampling was used to choose the students. The sample study includes 372 students.
Results: The study indicated that the prevalence of smoking behaviors among secondary schools’ students was 25.3%. The majority was males. There is a significant association between teachers smoking and students smokers (H.S = 0.00). AlsoThere is no a significant differences between smoking behaviors’ among smokers’ students and school environment, and there is a significant differences between smoking behaviors’ among smokers’ students and their soicodemographic characteristics (age and sex) (P-value = 0.016; and 0.047) respectively, and the schools environment was acceptable in Kerbala City (R.S=67.38).
Conclusions: The study indicated that the prevalence of smoking behaviors among secondary school students was 25.3%. The majority of smokers students are between the ages of 16 and 18, are male, fifth class, more than a third they smoke hook, and living with their families in low monthly income was less than 300.000 iraqi dinar.
Recommendations: There are many solutions to deal with the problems through preventive education programs, tracking by parents and teachers to their students to control the smoking prevalence among secondary school students, and identify the causes that affect smoking behaviors.