OBJECTIVE: To estimate the proportion of smokers that could potentially have been prevented from smoking by limiting the amount of pocket money received by Chinese adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Current smoking, ever smoking and the amount of pocket money were determined through self-administered questionnaires among 12,708 adolescents (aged 12-18 years) from 21 schools in Shanghai, China. RESULTS: Adjusted odds ratios for current smoking ranged from 2.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-2.7] for adolescents receiving 200-399 Reminbin (RMB)/month as pocket money to 6.5 (95% CI 3.3-12.7) for those receiving ≥1000 RMB/month, compared with those receiving <200 RMB/month. The crude population-attributable risk percentage (PAR%) due to higher pocket money (≥200 RMB/month) for current smoking was 50.4% (95% CI 42.2-57.4), and adjusted PAR% was 43.3% (95% CI 30.7-53.1). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of current smokers may have been prevented from smoking if pocket money was limited to <200 RMB/month among Chinese adolescents. An even larger proportion could have been prevented from smoking if pocket money was reduced further. It is recommended that future intervention programmes should target parents to reduce the amount of pocket money in China.
OBJECTIVE: To estimate the proportion of smokers that could potentially have been prevented from smoking by limiting the amount of pocket money received by Chinese adolescents. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: Current smoking, ever smoking and the amount of pocket money were determined through self-administered questionnaires among 12,708 adolescents (aged 12-18 years) from 21 schools in Shanghai, China. RESULTS: Adjusted odds ratios for current smoking ranged from 2.0 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1.5-2.7] for adolescents receiving 200-399 Reminbin (RMB)/month as pocket money to 6.5 (95% CI 3.3-12.7) for those receiving ≥1000 RMB/month, compared with those receiving <200 RMB/month. The crude population-attributable risk percentage (PAR%) due to higher pocket money (≥200 RMB/month) for current smoking was 50.4% (95% CI 42.2-57.4), and adjusted PAR% was 43.3% (95% CI 30.7-53.1). CONCLUSIONS: Approximately half of current smokers may have been prevented from smoking if pocket money was limited to <200 RMB/month among Chinese adolescents. An even larger proportion could have been prevented from smoking if pocket money was reduced further. It is recommended that future intervention programmes should target parents to reduce the amount of pocket money in China.
Authors: Lu Ma; Zeping Fang; Liwang Gao; Yaling Zhao; Hong Xue; Ke Li; Youfa Wang Journal: Int J Environ Res Public Health Date: 2020-12-07 Impact factor: 3.390