Use of Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Among Students Aged 13–15 Years—Worldwide, 1999–2005

May 26, 2006 / Vol. 55 / No. 20

MMWR Highlights

• More than 17% of students aged 13–15 years, were current users of any form of tobacco (i.e., cigarettes, chewing tobacco, snuff, dip, cigars, cigarillos, little cigars, or pipes).
• Nearly 9% of students currently smoked cigarettes and 11 percent currently used tobacco products other than cigarettes.
• Tobacco use among students was highest in the Region of the Americas (22%) and the European Region (19%) and lowest in the South-East Asia Region (13%) and the Western Pacific Region (11%).
• Boys were significantly more likely than girls to currently use any form of tobacco products in the Eastern Mediterranean, South-East Asia, and Western-Pacific Regions.
• Cigarette smoking among students was highest in the European Region (17.9%) and the Region of the Americas (17.5%) and lowest in South-East Asia (4%), Eastern Mediterranean (5%), and Western Pacific Regions (7%).
• While there was no significant differences in cigarette smoking by gender overall, boys were significantly more likely than girls to smoke cigarettes in the African, South-East Asia, and Western Pacific Regions.
• Use of tobacco products other than cigarettes was highest in the South-East Asia (13.3%) and Easter Mediterranean Regions (12.9 percent) and lowest in the Western Pacific (6.4%) and European Regions (8.1%).
• Boys were significantly more like to use other tobacco products than girls overall in the Region of the Americas and South-East Asia Region.
• Cigarette smoking was significantly higher than other tobacco use for girls in the Region of the Americas and for boys and girls in the European Region.
• The use of specific forms of tobacco other than cigarettes varies among the Regions. In the Eastern Mediterranean, Shisha (flavored tobacco smoked in hookah pipes) is prevalent; in South-East Asia, bidis, smokeless tobacco, and waterpipe are popular; in the Western Pacific, betel nut is chewed with tobacco; in Africa, the pipe, snuff, and rolled tobacco leaves are common; and in Europe, cigars and smokeless tobacco are prevalent.
• Effective, comprehensive tobacco control programs that include evidence-based interventions for adolescents are needed to decrease the burden of tobacco-related diseases worldwide.