Abstract

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.