[Cigarette smoking--a new path in prophylaxis?].

Unlabelled: Not much is known why there are less smokers among girls than among boys. The aim of the study was to investigate what caused a lower incidence of smoking among girls than among boys, and how to make use of this fact in anti-tobacco prophylaxis.

Material And Methods: The study was based on surveys and a multiple choice picture test study. A group of 347 adolescents and children attending high schools in Klodawa and the primary school in Górki were surveyed. Their reason for not smoking were obtained by means of surveys, and factors discouraging them from smoking were checked by means of a multiple choice picture test.

Results: Not making any attempt at tobacco smoking significantly influenced nonsmokers (Χ2 = 4.81, p = 0.028). Nausea after smoking a cigarette led 9.7% of girls and 4.3% of boys to give up smoking. In terms of the adverse effects of smoking, children up 12 years of age feared nausea, and from the age of 12, feared impotence and infertility, more than neoplastic diseases.

Conclusions: In anti-tobacco prophylaxis, it is necessary with children not yet at the age of puberty to point out nausea as a harmful consequence of smoking, and with children from the age of 12, to indicate infertility and impotence as consequences. We should also inform them about the harmful impact of smoking on beauty, and the incidence of obesity in smokers' offspring. We also need to increase emphasis in prevention efforts on the need to not start smoking.