Cigerette smoking among adolescents in Saudi Arabia Essay

Cigerette smoking among adolescents in Saudi Arabia - Essay Example More than 90 percent of adult smokers report that they started smoking as adolescents.†(Brody 2008). â€Å"A study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health, concludes that cigarette manufacturers have marketed brands to what is called as â€Å"vulnerable population† of adolescents by â€Å"manipulating sensory elements of cigarettes to promote initiation and dependence.† (Saul 2008). â€Å"Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in secondary schools in Philippines. The male students are twice more likely than female students to have ever smoked cigarettes (57.0% vs. 32.0%, respectively). Prevalence of ever smoking increases with the students’ year level and age.† (Results, n.d. pp.11-21). A study was conducted by University College London, to determine the prevalence of smoking among Chinese secondary school students. Of the 6674 respondents, 15.9% (25.7% of the boys, 5.4% of the girls) were ever smokers. Only 0.3% was regular smokers. Of the ever smokers, 41.9% had smoked before 10 years of age and 7.9% before 5 years of age.† (Hesketh, Ding & Tomkins 2001, pp.1653-5). â€Å"Global Youth Tobacco Survey conducted in Philippines, which was a secondary school, based survey. Among those who have ever smoked, 13% reported to have first tried cigarette smoking before age 10 years, with female students more likely to have first tried than male students (15.4% vs. 11.0%, respectively). A greater proportion of younger students, age less than 12 years (30%) and those in lowest year level (15.3%), have reported to have first tried smoking before age 10 years.† (Results, n.d. p.1). In a study performed in male secondary schools in Saudi Arabia, between the ages of fourteen years to nineteen years;† Out of 289 school adolescents, 50 reported that they had ever smoked. Regular smokers (daily and weekly?) (this taken as such from journal) constituted 84% of all smokers (giving 14.5% prevalence); three were experimental smokers.† (Abolfotouch et al