Hygiena 2008, 53(4):135-140

The Role of the Family in the Development of Some of the Children's Attitudes towards Smoking and their Smoking Habits

Drahoslava Hrubá¹, Iva Žaloudíková²

¹ Ústav preventivního lékařství, Lékařská fakulta MU, Brno

² Katedra psychologie, Pedagogická fakulta MU, Brno

The behavioural complex of "life style" is affected by the attitudes to its individual components. The family has the most important impact on the child's attitudes during early childhood. The more social subjects with similar attitudes and the similar behaviour exert influence upon the target population, the better are the effects of the intervention on the development of behaviour. These general principles are the basis for the educational programme "Non-Smoking is the Norm" created for the pupils at the first degree of primary schools and their parents.
The measurement of the effect included also the differences between children living in smoking and non-smoking families. Children described smoking habits of their relatives (parents, grandparents and others), their experience with cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking and thinking about smoking in the future. These data were evaluated for two groups of children with different exposure to smoking in their families using the χ² test in the EPI INFO statistic programme. Parents were asked whether the facts about healthy life styles (nutrition, protection of children against secondhand smoke exposure), included in the school programme, diffused also into the family environment were accepted.
The results have confirmed that the majority of school-aged children (75%) are exposed to the smoking of parents and relatives. The smoking family supported availability of tobacco products for children, weakened the child's negative attitudes to smoking (as not-normal behaviour) and contributed to the experimentation with cigarette smoking and alcohol drinking in early childhood. Conflicting parental answers on similar questions proved the underestimation of the risks posed by smoking. Parents also made mistakes in their knowledge about the principles of healthy nutrition and habits. These circumstances decreased the effects of school educational efforts.

Keywords: smoking, children, family, intervention

Published: December 2008  Show citation