Abstract
[Background] According to government teaching guidelines, a smoking prevention program is carried out in the 6
th grade at primary schools in Japan. In Nara Prefecture, picture-book educational materials aimed at 5-or 6 year-old children for prevention of smoking1(“Bye-bye Smoky King”) were distributed to 1
st graders at all elementary schools within the prefecture from 2003 to 2005. In this study, we examined the knowledge, perception and experiences of smoking among 5th graders who received the picture-book educational materials when they were 1
st graders.
[Methods] A cross sectional survey of 2422 5
th grade school children from Nara City elementary school was performed in October /November, 2007 using anonymous self-administered questionnaires on the health hazards of smoking, how to quit, views on smoking, smoking experiencess, and the smoking status of their families. In addition, they were asked whether they remembered the educational materials, and a free space was provided for writing about “what they talked to their families about regarding smoking” and “what they wanted to know about smoking”
[Results] Questionnaires from 2334 students were analyzed. To the question. “If someone tried to persuade you to smoke, what do you think you would do?” 61.0% answered,“1 would refuse because I don't like to smoke” and 28% answered, “I would try to say that I do not want him to smoke because it will be bad for him.” These answers indicate that the students generally had a negative perception of smoking. In addition, 93.5% answered that they knew about smoking dependence and they already had some knowledge about the harm of smoking 4.2% stated that they had smoked at least once, and 8.1% had experienced the temptation to smoke. The free written answers suggested a need for a deeper understanding about the harm of smoking among children in the upper class of elementary school. Only 33.9% remembered the picture-book educational materials.
[Conclusion] The 5
th graders in the study generally had a negative disposition toward smoking and many were interested in smoking prevention. We suggest further discussion of the program according to the needs of children in the upper class of elementary school and possible implementation of an earlier program.
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