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Objective. This study sought to reassess the relationship between cigarette smoking and education. Methods. Data from the 1983 to 1991 National Health Interview survey for participants aged 25 years and older were used to plot the prevalence of current smoking, ever smoking, heavy smoking and smoking cessation, as well as the adjusted log odds ratios, by years of education. Results. The "less than high school graduate" category consisted of two groups with distinct smoking patterns: persons with 0 to 8 years and persons with 9 to 11 years of education. The latter were the most likely to be current, ever, and heavy smokers and the least likely to have quit smoking, whereas the former were similar to persons having 12 years of education. After 11 years of education, the likelihood of smoking decreased and that of smoking cessation increased with each successive year of education. These results persisted after the statistical adjustment for age, sex, ethnicity, poverty status, employment status, marital status, geographic region, and year of survey. Conclusions. The relationship between smoking and education is not monotonic. Thus, when evaluating smoking in relation to education, researchers should categorize years of education as follows: 0 to 8, 9 to 11, 12, 13 to 15, and 16 or more years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. This study investigated patterns of and risk factors for smoking among elementary school children in Beijing, China. Methods. In 1988, anonymous questionnaires were administered to a multistage stratified cluster sample of 16996 students, aged mostly 10 to 12, in 479 fourth- to sixth-grade classes from 122 Beijing elementary schools. Results. Approximately 28% of boys and 3% of girls had smoked cigarettes. The most frequently cited. reasons for smoking initiation were "to imitate others' behavior" and "to see what it was like." Girls were more likely to get cigarettes from home than to purchase their own. Having close friends who smoked and being encouraged by close friends to smoke were strong risk factors for smoking. Smoking was also associated with lower parental socioeconomic status; having parents, siblings, or teachers who smoked; buying cigarettes for parents; performing poorly in school;. and not believing that smoking is harmful to health. conclusions. Gender differences in smoking prevalence among adolescents in China are larger than those among US teenagers, whereas the proximal risk factors for smoking are similar. Major efforts are needed to monitor and prevent smoking initiation among Chinese adolescents, particularly girls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. This study assessed the prevalence of and demographic variables associated with lifetime never-daily smoking in the United States. Methods. Descriptive demographic data and logistic regression analyses were used to examine associations with never-daily smoking. Results. Lifetime never-daily smokers constituted a significant minority of non-White smokers. There was a strong association between never-daily smoking and college education among young adults, particularly men. Although never-daily smoking was associated with initiation behavior among young smokers, it also represented a persistent pattern for some smokers, particularly non-Whites and Hispanics. Conclusions. The demographic distribution of never-daily smoking may have implications for developing culturally appropriate smoking prevention and cessation strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]