The 13th World Conference on Tobacco OR Health

Background: Second-hand smoking is a major health hazard for non-smokers, especially for children. The prevalence of second-hand smoking exposure at home for elementary school kids in Taiwan is as high as 49.8%. Understanding factors contributing to children's exposure to second-hand smoking is important in developing prevention strategies.

Objective: To investigate risk factors related to elementary school children's exposure to second-hand smoking

Methods: A structured self-reported questionnaire was answered in class by 3rd and 4th graders in 13 elementary schools, which were sampled, using probability-proportional-to-size (PPS) method, from Taoyuan County in northern Taiwan. Total participating pupils were 1855, and the response rate was 85.5%. Logistic regression was used to analyze data.

Results: Those who got low score on tobacco-related knowledge (OR=1.43, 95%CI=1.03-1.99), had ever been asked to buy cigarettes (OR=4.45, 95%CI=2.90-6.85), and who had a smoking (OR=6.37, 95%CI=4.66-8.71) or less-educated (OR=1.52, 95%CI=1.13-2.04) father were more likely to expose to second-hand smoking at home.

Conclusion: To prevent kids from second-hand smoking hazards, home is the most important environment to target at. Especially for the low socioeconomic families, educating adults not to smoke at home and not to ask children to buy cigarettes for them is the priority for prevention strategies. In school, educating pupils about tobacco hazards is also an effective way to help our children to breathe in a clean air.