Prevalence and determinants of smoking behaviour in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality

Abstract

Smoking behaviour is one of the negative social problems in South Africa and this is extensively rampant as it affects the education or learning process of learners in high schools. Previous studies indicate that smoking behaviour is highly dangerous to both parents and children. The objectives of this study was to investigate the prevalence and determinants of smoking behaviour among high school learners in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality; to examine the attitudes of high school learners in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality towards stopping smoking tobacco. A sample of 180 learners was taken from three selected schools in Raymond Mhlaba Local Municipality. The learners were recruited and served as study participants. Data was collected using a selfadministered questionnaire which was designed to measure the prevalence and attitudes of high school learners toward smoking tobaccos. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. The results showed that male students are 3.65(OR=3.652, 95%CI (1.527, 8.733)) more likely to smoke than female students. This implies being a male student increases the risk of smoking. In addition, the study also showed that students having the knowledge of harmful effects of smoking are 2.34(OR=2.342, 95%CI (0.946, 5.797)) more likely to smoke than those who do not know the harmful effects of smoking. The study suggests that the knowledge of smoking is not proactive to smoking.