PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - de Leeuw, Rebecca N H
AU  - Engels, Rutger C M E
AU  - Scholte, Ron H J
TI  - Parental smoking and pretend smoking in young children
AID  - 10.1136/tc.2009.033407
DP  - 2010 Jun 01
TA  - Tobacco Control
PG  - 201--205
VI  - 19
IP  - 3
4099  - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/19/3/201.short
4100  - http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/19/3/201.full
SO  - Tob Control2010 Jun 01; 19
AB  - Objective To investigate whether parental smoking was associated with smoking-related play behaviour in young children.Design Children were asked to pretend that they were grown-ups having dinner. They were invited to act out this situation in a play corner with a toy kitchen and a child-sized dining area, including a package of fake cigarettes on the table.Setting Children were tested individually at their school during regular school hours.Participants The sample consisted of 100 children between 4 and 8 years of age (mean=5.28, SD=0.94) of which 57% were boys. The majority of the children were born in The Netherlands (99%).Measurements The main outcome measure was whether or not a child pretended to be smoking a cigarette. Child and parent reports were used to assess parental smoking.Findings Findings revealed that 37% of the children had at least one ‘puff’ during their play. Children were more likely to pretend to smoke if they reported having smoking parents (OR=3.16, p=0.02; 95% CI=1.22 to 8.18). Analyses for the model with parent reports on parental smoking did not yield any direct association. Children's explicit attitudes were unrelated to their smoking-related play behaviour.Conclusions These findings indicate that young children, who reported having parents who smoke, already associate having dinner with a (after-dinner) cigarette.