UW researcher worried that youth survey finds smoking rates may have flatlined
June 23, 2008

CancerCare Manitoba has been working with Manitoba schools and teachers to survey students about their attitudes and behaviour regarding smoking.

Here are the latest results.

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WATERLOO, Ont. (Monday, June 23, 2008) - The results of the latest national Youth Smoking Survey (YSS) reveal that the percentage of young people who have tried a tobacco product has stopped declining, suggesting the issue of tobacco control requires continued attention in Canada.

The 2006-07 version of the survey found that 21 percent of youths in grades 5 to 9, most between the ages of 10 and 14, had tried at least one tobacco product. This result is similar to that reported in the 2004-05 YSS following a decade-long decline. The original YSS, conducted in 1994, reported that 52 percent had tried a tobacco product.

For the first time, the latest survey included students in grades 10 to 12, 55 percent of whom had tried tobacco. This represents the highest percentage of survey participants in this category.

While 48 percent of students in grades 10 to12 had tried cigarette smoking, 11 percent were classified as current smokers.  For students in grades 5 to 9, of the 18.5 percent who had tried cigarette smoking, two percent were current smokers.

The researcher who coordinates the study for Health Canada is heartened by the earlier decline, but concerned with the leveling off among younger youths and the jump in tobacco use in higher grades.

"Tobacco control continues to be an issue that we need to keep our efforts focused on," said Steve Manske, the researcher with the Centre for Behavioural Research and Program Evaluation (CBRPE) who coordinates the survey. "Tobacco products that appeal to youth continue to appear on the market, which is why continued vigilance on cancer prevention has never been more important."

Provincial and territorial governments in British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario and the Yukon have recently moved to ban smoking in vehicles with a child present, while Manitoba, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island are considering similar bans. Manske applauds this move, noting that 28 percent of students in the YSS reported traveling in a car within a week of completing the survey with someone who was smoking.

"While protecting the child's lungs, the bans also remove a social model," explained Manske, "which in effect tells the child that it's okay to smoke."

Another factor possibly influencing the slowed decline is the increased availability of cigarillos. Anecdotal reports of their popularity prompted more specific YSS questions about these particular tobacco products. Data revealed that 35 percent of grades 10 to 12 students had tried cigars, cigarillos or "little cigars", flavoured or unflavoured.

"It is generally recognized that this young population is most at risk for trying tobacco products," Manske said. "It's important that we understand these trends among youth in order to develop conditions that make it easy for them to remain smoke-free."

The survey also found:

• More boys than girls have ever tried any tobacco product.
• Twenty-two percent of youth reported that someone other than themselves smoked every day or almost every day in their homes. In 2004-05, 25 percent reported being exposed every day or almost every day.
• Seventy percent of students in grades 5 to 12 reported that no one is allowed to smoke in their home. Ontario and British Columbia homes are most likely to have these rules, while New Brunswick and Quebec homes are least likely to ban smoking in the home.

More information on the survey and its results can be found at http://www.yss.uwaterloo.ca.

When it was first administered in 1994, the YSS was the largest and most comprehensive survey of youth smoking behaviour conducted since 1979. The most recent YSS involved 71,000 students in grades 5 to 12 in 467 schools.

The survey is funded by Health Canada and was conducted by CBRPE and collaborators in each province. With funds from the Canadian Cancer Society, CBRPE is committed to preventing cancer in Canadians and to improving the quality of life of people with cancer, cancer survivors and their families.

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For additional information about CancerCare Manitoba, please contact:

Roberta Koscielny, Director
Communications & Public Affairs
CancerCare Manitoba
Phone:  (204) 787-4540 Toll-free: 1-877-407-2223
E-mail: roberta.koscielny@cancercare.mb.ca