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Report of the
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Health-related behaviours
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Report of the
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Health-related behaviours
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| Note: | Recent smoking: smoking on at least 1 day in the week prior to the survey. Estimates are based on the following numbers of respondents: 10,026 in 1996; 7,348 in 1999; 6,180 in 2002 and 5,610 in 2005. |
| Source: | NSW School Students Health Behaviours Survey, 2005 (HOIST). Centre for Epidemiology and Research, NSW Department of Health. |
Tobacco smoking is the leading preventable cause of morbidity and premature mortality, particularly from cardiovascular disease; cancers of the lung, larynx, and mouth; and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Smoking also contributes to risk of sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and low birthweight (US Department of Health and Human Services, 2004). Tobacco smoking is estimated to kill approximately half (Peto et al., 2004) to two-thirds (Doll et al., 2004) of all its long-term users.
Most people who go on to become long-term smokers started smoking during their secondary school years and early uptake is associated with heavier smoking patterns and greater difficulty in quitting (US Department of Health and Human Services, 1994). Nicotine dependence is established rapidly even among adolescents (Fiore et al., 2000) and preventing young people from commencing smoking will reduce smoking-related deaths and illness in the long term.
Among NSW secondary school students in 2005, 33% of both students reported ever smoking. The percentage of ever smokers fell each year that the survey was conducted, from 57% in 1993 to 42% in 2002 to the current rate of 33% (data not shown).
'Recent' smoking refers to smoking on at least 1 day in the week prior to the survey. The percentage of recent smokers fell from 20% in 1993 to 8% in 2005. This decline was observed in bothe males (18% to 9%) and females (21% to 8%) and across all age groups.
NSW Health sponsors a smoking prevention program for NSW year 7 students in partnership with the NSW Department of Education and Training, the AFL (NSW/ACT), and the Sydney Swans. The 'Smoking Don't Be a Sucker' program integrates non-smoking messages with an AFL physical activity program and aims to provide students with increased knowledge and awareness of the health effects of smoking and the detrimental effects it has on physical and sporting performance, and exposes the students to non-sporting role models (NSW Health website).
| For more information: |
Fiore MC, Baily WC, Cohen SJ, et al. Treating tobacco use and dependence. Clinical Practice Guideline. Rockville MD: US Department of Health and Human Service, 2000. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2004. Ridolfo B, Stevenson C. The quantification of drug caused morbidity and mortality in Australia, 1998. Canberra: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2001. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Preventing Tobacco Use Among Young People: A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, Georgia: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 1994. Doll R, Peto R, Boreham J and Sutherland I. Mortality in relation to their smoking: 50 years' observations on male British doctors. BMJ 2004; 328:1519-28. Peto R, Lopez AD, Boreham J, Thun M and Heath Jr C. Mortality from Smoking in Developed Countries 1950-2000. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Available at: http://rum.ctsu.ox.ac.uk/~tobacco NSW Health website at www.health.nsw.gov.au. |
| Print version: | Although this page can be printed directly from your Web browser, a higher quality version of this entire page (graph, table and text) is available as an Acrobat PDF file which can be printed or viewed on screen using free software. |
| Downloadable files: | The data contained in the table on this page are available for download as a CSV file which can be imported into many software packages. The graph is available for download as an EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) file and as an EMF (Enhanced Metafile Format) file. Files in these formats can be imported into most word processing, presentation and graphics software packages. |
| Copyright notice: | This work is copyright NSW Department of Health, 2006. It may be reproduced in whole or in part, subject to the inclusion of an acknowledgement of the source. Commercial usage or sale is prohibited. |
| Suggested citation: | Population Health Division. The health of the people of New South Wales - Report of the Chief Health Officer. Sydney: NSW Department of Health. Available at: http://www.health.nsw.gov.au/public-health/chorep/beh/beh_smostud.htm. Accessed (insert date of access). |
| Produced by: | Centre for Epidemiology and Research, Population Health Division, NSW Department of Health. |
| Last updated on: | 15 November 2006 |
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