[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
# of Czech Adolescent Smokers Doubles (fwd)
ARCHIVE of Wednesday, September
09, 1998
Number of Czech Adolescent Smokers
Doubles
PRAGUE -- (Agence France Presse) The number of
Czech adolescents
who smoke has almost doubled in four years,
with a marked rise seen
among teenage girls, the Prague-based press
reported Tuesday.
Girls aged 13 and 14 years are beginning to
catch up on their male
counterparts, as 7.9 percent of this age group
are now lighting up,
compared to 4.2 percent in 1994. The number of
boys in the same age
group who smoke rose from 7.3 percent in 1994
to 10.4 percent this
year, according to findings from the World
Health Organization
published in Tuesday's edition of the Dnes
newspaper.
Not only has the proportion of adolescent
smokers risen, the number of
cigarettes they consume has also increased,
from 8.3 per week in 1994
to 15.4 a week now. Doctors said that 70
percent of young Czech
smokers prefer major U.S. and European brands,
advertisements for
which are splashed across most publications.
The prevalence of smoking in Czech society is
epitomized by the
country's President Vaclav Havel, whose former
chain-smoking habit
has been blamed for his multiple health
problems, which included a lung
tumor. ( (c) 1998 Agence France Presse)
© 1998 European Internet Network Inc.