Smoking behaviour of Tasmanian High School pupils

We report the findings of a sample survey of the smoking behaviour of Tasmanian High School pupils, aged 12–16, in 1979. The sample of 646 boys and 565 girls was drawn from 14 Tasmanian High Schools and is considered to be representative of high school pupils in that State. We found that in the 14–16 age range smoking is more prevalent among girls than boys; by age 11 the majority of boys and girls have already tried their first cigarette. We observed an association between smoking behaviour and attitudes to known health outcomes of smoking.