Hygiena 2008, 53(Suppl.):S23-S28

Non-Smoking is a Norm

Iva Žaloudíková¹, Drahoslava Hrubá²

¹ Pedagogická fakulta MU, Brno

² Lékařská fakulta MU, Brno

The new educational primary preventive school-based programme "Non-Smoking is a Norm" has been prepared for the 1st to 3rd grades of primary school to complete the continuing series of anti-smoking primary prevention in the Czech Republic. The aim of the programme is to promote the pupils' interest in non-smoking.

Methods: The stage for 1st graders includes a manual with 5 lectures, supplied with Verka the Squirrel (as a symbol of healthy lifestyle) and videotape presenting Retka the Cigarette (symbol of unhealthy lifestyle). Data for evaluation were obtained with the combination of individual structured interview and the expression of the pupils' knowledge by drawing. Data of children's knowledge about health risk of smoking, their exposure to smoking, their attitudes towards smoking and knowledge of "healthy" and "unhealthy" lifestyle, was collected prior to the intervention and repeated 6 months later. Both of the experimental and control groups were assessed with the same methods. Differences were evaluated by the EPI INFO statistic programme (Mantel Haenszel and Fisher tests).

Results: In the first inquiery there were 1,058 children in the experimental group and 800 respondents in the control group. Many children were influenced by their smoking relatives (a quarter of them had smoking mothers, more than a third of them had smoking fathers and grandparents), about 15% of them are exposed to ETS at home, 10% to 20% of children living in smoking families could manipulate with cigarettes.
The programme significantly enhanced children's knowledge about health risks of smoking and about "healthy" and "unhealthy" components of lifestyle. Critical attitudes towards adults' smoking have significantly increased. In the experimental group, the significant increase of the frequency of those who intend to be a non-smoker in the future has been observed. On the other hand, the number of potential future smokers has remained almost the same in the experimental group, while the number of those considering future smoking was significantly enhanced in the control group.

Conclusion: The study has confirmed the efficacy of the new educational primary preventive anti-smoking programme for the 1st grade of primary schools.

Keywords: smoking, primary prevention, programme for primary schools

Published: December 2008  Show citation