Tobacco.org

Improving education may cut smoking in youth 

Although low socio-economic status is associated with an increased liability to smoke, performing well at school can mitigate this effect. A new study, published in BioMed Central's open access International Journal for Equity in Health, has shown that high-achieving schoolchildren, even those from poor backgrounds, are less likely to smoke.

Christina Schnohr led a team of researchers from the University of Copenhagen's Institute of Public Health who surveyed 20,399 schoolchildren from the UK, Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Finland. She said, "Above average academic achievement was associated with lower risk of smoking. Teachers and politicians may find this information useful, and allocate resources to give higher priority to a supportive environment in schools especially for children and adolescents in lower social groups. This might contribute to reducing smoking in this group".

The researchers' study confirmed that children from less well-off families are more likely to smoke, and are less likely to perform well at school

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