Smoking patterns in students of higher institutions of learning in Nigeria

Abstract

A study of the pattern of cigarette smoking among 2317 students of both sexes attending some selected universities, polytechnics, colleges of education and schools of nursing in Nigeria was undertaken by means of questionnaires. It was observed that 436 (30%) of male students and 174 (21%) of female students smoked cigarettes. The prevalence was noted to be on the increase for female students when compared with previous studies carried out in similar institutions in Nigeria. The highest prevalence of smoking was among students from colleges of education. Over 50% of the students were mild smokers while less than 50% had exceeded a duration of 5 years of smoking. The latter finding suggests that it may still be feasible to convince a large proportion of them to stop smoking or to cut down on the number of cigarettes smoked.