Smoking initiation in primary school students in Southeast of Turkey: The roles of sociodemographic factors, gender and parental characteristics

Aim: The objective of this survey was to determine the socio-demographic and the parental features and the extent of active and passive smoking among primary school children in Diyarbakir Province in Southeast Anatolian Region of Turkey. Material and Methods: This survey is an epidemiological study with cross-sectional design. According to the layered random sampling method, 15 schools were visited and taking into account the age and gender distribution a total number of 1124 students filled the questionnaire. The survey included questions about the parental and the socio-demographic features, the social and economic status of the family, number of brothers and sisters, the housing and living conditions, as well as the smoking status of students. Results: 1124 students, consisting of 630 boys (%56.0) and 494 girls (%44.0) had an average age of 11.1±2.4 yr. A total of 771 (68.6%) students told that there were smoking family members living in their houses (p