HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS REGISTER		Author Keyword(s) Vol Page [Advanced]

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Read responses to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this link to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Add article to my folders Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Rodu, B Articles by Cole, P Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Rodu, B Articles by Cole, P Related Collections Smoking Tobacco use (youth)

Tobacco use among Swedish schoolchildren

¹ Department of Pathology, School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, Alabama, USA
² Department of Medicine, University Hospital, Umeå, Sweden
³ Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Alabama at Birmingham

Correspondence to:
Dr Brad Rodu
529 S. Jackson Street, University of Louisville, Louisville KY 41202, USA; brad.rodu{at}louisville.edu

Objective: To study the prevalence of snus use and of smoking among Swedish schoolchildren from 1989 to 2003.

Design: Surveys conducted by the Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs.

Setting: All of Sweden.

Subjects: 84 472 boys and girls age 15–16 years.

Main outcome measures: Subjects are classified as non-smokers, occasional smokers, and regular smokers, and into three similar categories for snus use. Tobacco use is reported as sex specific prevalence.

Results: During the period 1989 to 2003, the prevalence of tobacco use declined both among boys and girls. For boys, regular smoking declined after 1992 from 10% to 4%. Their snus use was about 10% in the 1990s but increased to 13% by 2003. Regular smoking among girls was 20% in early years and declined to 15%. Smoking among girls was always double that among boys. Patterns of occasional tobacco use were similar to those of regular use.

Conclusions: The high prevalence of snus use in Sweden not only reduces smoking rates among Swedish men, but suppresses smoking among boys as well.

Keywords: smokeless tobacco; snus; smoking; Sweden; children

This article has been cited by other articles:

				L M Ramstrom and J Foulds Role of snus in initiation and cessation of tobacco smoking in Sweden Tob. Control, June 1, 2006; 15(3): 210 - 214. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

eLetters: