The attitude of Gdańsk middle school students to the problem of smoking and use of tobacco products

Background. Cigarette smoking among young people is a serious problem. Many young people reach for tobacco products and although there are teenagers they do not have problems with purchasing them. Objectives. To test Gdańsk secondary school students’ knowledge about the dangers of smoking and tobacco use. Material and methods. The study used a method of diagnostic survey. Data was collected using a survey developed by the WHO – Global Youth Tobacco GTSS Survey – Core Questionnaire with Optional Questions, to which the respondents gave answers themselves. The study involved 117 adolescents aged 14–17 years. Results. Fifty-seven percent of respondents tried to smoke cigarettes and other tobacco products and had no problem with their purchase. Fifty-eight percent of respondents were exposed to passive smoking within the last week. Twenty-five percent of students agree with the statement that they might get to like smoking. Almost 82% are aware of the fact that giving up smoking is difficult. Twenty-four percent of respondents declared that their first contact with a cigarette was when they were less than 11 years old. For 56% of respondents obtaining cigarettes would not be a problem. Conclusions. Smoking of tobacco products is a serious problem among teenagers. They are not only exposed to its negative consequences during active smoking, but also during passive smoking. Young people experiment with the consumption of tobacco products and it is not a problem for them to acquire them. The results show that even very young people fall into addictions difficult to overcome.