Tobacco consumption in adolescence: Age and regional trends The Young HUNT Study, Norway (1995-2008).

Background: The aim of this study was to describe the trends of smoking and snuff consumption in adolescents in Nord-Trøndelag, Norway, in the period from 1995/97 to 2006/08, with special emphasize on regional and gender differences. Method: We used data from all three waves of the Young-HUNT study, the youth part (ages 13-19 yrs) of the HUNT study, Nord- Trøndelag County, Norway. Young-HUNT 1 was conducted in 1995-97 (N=9131, 90% response rate), Young-HUNT 2 in 1999-2000 (N=2808, 80% response rate) and Young-HUNT 3 in 2006-08 (N=8601). Results: Fewer adolescents had tried smoking in Young-HUNT 3 (40.6%) compared to Young-HUNT 1 (56.5%), while the prevalence of adolescents who had tried snuff increased in the same period from 17.4% to 23.5%. The prevalence of adolescents who smoked daily or occasionally decreased between Young-HUNT 1 (girls 23.8%, boys 19.8%) and Young-HUNT 3 (girls: 14.6%, boys: 12.1%), while the prevalence of daily or occasionally snuffing increased (girls: 3.4% to 13.0% and boys: 20.2% to 23.1%). This constitutes a fourfold increase of the number of young female snuff users in little more than a decade. Occasional snuff use increased most in girls while daily snuff use increased most in boys. The same tendency was seen inn all regions, but the prevalence of tobacco use varied. Conclusion: The results demonstrate a shift from cigarette smoking to snuff use in the adolescent population between 1995 and 2008. Although a decrease in cigarette smoking occurred, the increasing snuff use makes the total tobacco consumption nearly constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]