The European Journal of Public Health Advance Access originally published online on May 4, 2006
The European Journal of Public Health 2006 16(5):509-512; doi:10.1093/eurpub/ckl043
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Smoking |
Exposure of pre-school children to passive cigarette and narghile smoke in Beirut
Hala Tamim1,2, Ghassan Akkary2, Abbas El-Zein2,3, Zana El-Roueiheb2 and Souheil El-Chemaly2
1 Department of Kinesiology and Health Science, York University, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
2 Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon
3 Department of Civil Engineering, University of Sydney, Australia
Correspondence: Hala Tamim, School of Kinesiology and Health Science, Bethune College, 4700 Keele street, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M3J 1P3, tel: +1 416 736 2100 ext 33338, fax: +1 416 736 5774, e-mail: htamim{at}yorku.ca
Background: Narghile is a resurging smoking device. However, little research has been done to assess passive smoking exposure. The objective of the present study is to evaluate the exposure of pre-school age children in Beirut to parental passive smoking from cigarette and/or narghile. Methods: Data were collected from 1057 pre-school age children attending 16 day cares and 7 nursery schools in the city of Beirut. Results: The overall prevalence of parental smoking (cigarette and/or narghile) was 53.3%. Ten per cent of respondents reported smoking only narghile. Fathers were significantly more likely than mothers to smoke cigarettes. However, there was no significant difference between fathers and mothers with respect to smoking narghile only. Education was a significant predictor for smoking cigarettes but not for smoking narghile. Conclusion: Narghile smoking appears to follow different gender and social patterns than cigarette smoking. Further research is needed to establish the determinants of narghile smoking, in order to develop adequate prevention policies.
Keywords: narghile, passive smoking, pre-school age children
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